Columbia  Sinititr^itp 

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A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION 
IN  BELGIUM 


A  JOURNAL 

FROM    OUR    LEGATION 

IN    BELGIUM 


BY 

HUGH    GIBSON 

SECRETARY  OF  THE   AMERICAN   LEGATION 
IN  BRUSSELS 


Illustrated  from  'photographs 


DOUBLEDAY,  PAGE   &   COMPANY 

Garden  City  New  York 

1917 


Copyright,  1917,  by 

DOUBLEDAY,  PaGE  &  CoMPANY 

All  rights  reserved,  including  that  of 

translation  into  foreign  languages, 

including  the  Scandinavian 


^ 


i< 


TO  MY  MOTHER 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

His  Majesty,  Albert,  King  of  the  Belgians Frontispiece 


FACING 
PAGE 


Facsimile  of  the  first  page  of  the  German  ultimatum  to  Bel- 
gium {in  the  text) 16 

Pass  issued  by  the  Belgian  military  authorities  to  enable  Mr. 

Gibson  to  enter  the  German  Legation  at  Brussels 17 

Maitre  Gaston  de  Leval,  legal  adviser  to  the  American  Lega- 
tion in  Brussels 17 

Her  Majesty,  Elizabeth,  Queen  of  the  Belgians 32 

]VIr.  Brand  Whitlock,  American  Minister  to  Belgium 33 

Mr.    Brand   Whitlock.     Taken   during   a   Fourth   of   July 

luncheon 52 

Burgomaster  Max 53 

Belgian  War  Medals 60,  61 

The  Marquis  de  Villalobar,  Spanish  Minister  at  Brussels ....     64 

A  barbed  wire  entanglement  at  Antwerp Q5 

The  Garde  Civique's  idea  of  a  barbed  wire  entanglement ....     Q5 

The  Garde  Civique  on  the  Avenue  Louise  in  Brussels 80 

Types  of  Belgian  cavalrymen 81 

German  supply  train  entering  Brussels 96 

German  infantry  entering  Brussels 97 

German  officers  and  soldiers  were  always  ready  to  oblige  by 

posing  for  the  camera 112 

*'Mit  Gott  fur  Kaiser  und  Reich" 112 

Count  Guy  d'Oultremont 113 

From  left  to  right:   Colonel  DuCane,  Captain  Ferguson  and 

Colonel  Fairholme 113 

Types  of  Belgian  cavalrymen 116 

Civilian  volunteers  going  out  to  dig  trenches  about  Antwerp  116 
The  King  of  the  Belgians  giving  orders  in  the  field 116 


Vll 


viii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FAcmo 

PAGE 


Pass  issued  by  General  von  Jarotzky  (in  text) 116 

A  Belgian  machine  gun  battery  drawn  by  dogs 122 

Types  of  Belgian  infantrymen 122 

King  Albert  and  General  von  Emmich  who  commanded  the 

German  troops  at  Liege 123 

Letter  signed  by  Burgomaster  Max  requesting  the  Belgian 

authorities  to  allow  Mr.  Gibson  to  pass  (in  text) 128 

Boy  Scouts  at  Belgian  headquarters 140 

Reading  from  left  to  right:  a  Belgian  Staff  Officer,  Colonel 

Fairholme,  Colonel  DuCane  and  Captain  Ferguson 141 

List  of  the  civilians  killed  by  the  Germans  at  Tamines  on 

August  20,  1914 141 

Entrance  to  the  Rue  de  Diest,  Louvain 156 

The  dead  and  the  living.    A  Belgian  civilian  and  a  German 

soldier 157 

Senor  don  German  Bulle,  Mexican  Charge  d'Affaires  in  Bel- 
gium     160 

German  sentries 161 

Posing  for  a  picture  to  send  home  to  Germany 161 

A  street  of  handsome  homes  at  Louvain 168 

Types  of  von  Arnim's  officers 169 

A  Landwehr  infantry  company 169 

Major  von  Herwarth  at  the  German  outpost  near  Hofstade.    172 

Monsieur  Emile  Francqui 173 

Field-Marshal  Baron  von  der  Goltz  Pacha 188 

The  signatures  to  the   "scrap  of  paper" 189 

Pass  issued  by  Field-Marshal  von  der  Goltz  {in  text) 200 

A  street  in  Louvain 202 

Fixing  on  the  white  Flag  for  the  dash  between  the  lines 202 

Refugees  from  the  villages  near  the  Antwerp  forts 203 

Arrival  in  Antwerp  of  refugees  from  Malines 203 

At  Malines — a  good  background  for  a  photograph  to  send 

home  to  Germany 218 

His  Eminence,  Cardinal  Mercier 219 

The  children  of  Antwerp  played  at  soldiering  through  the 

siege 222 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  ix 


FACING 
PAGE 


The  nuns,  scornful  of  danger,  stayed  where  they  could  render 

the  greatest  service 222 

German  troops  in  front  of  Hotel  de  Ville,  Brussels 223 

Types  of  von  Arnim's  troops 223 

The  Hotel  de  Ville,  Louvain 230 

Belgian  War  Medals. 231 

Fire  at  Namur  during  the  bombardment 254 

Effect  of  big  German  shell  on  Fort  of  Waehlem 255 

Outside  view  of  the  Fort  of  Waehlem  after  bombardment.  .  .   255 

View  of  the  Meuse  at  Huy 262 

Refugees  fleeing  toward  Dunkirk  before  the  German  advance  263 

Graves  of  civilians  shot  by  the  Germans 266 

A  typical  proclamation 266 

Views  of  the  Fort  of  Waehlem  after  its  bombardment 267 

Herbert  C.  Hoover 282 

French  Howitzer  near  H 283 

German  camp  kitchen 283 

An  improved  pass,  written  on  the  back  of  a  wine  card,  to 

enable  Mr.  Gibson  to  pass  through  the  streets  after  dark.  .   298 
General  Baron  von  Bissing,  Governor-General  in  Belgium.  .  .   299 

Photographs  of  Dinant 314 

View  of  Dinant 315 

Von  Bulow's  greeting  to  the  people  of  Liege  (in  text) 324 

How  the  simple  pleasures  of  the  German  soldiers  were  re- 
stricted (in  text) 324 

Aux  habitants  de  la  Belgique  {in  text) 328 

A  Belgian  relief  ship  at  Rotterdam 330 

Rotterdam  office  of  the  Commission  for  Relief  in  Belgium .  .   330 
Barges   of  the   Commission   for   Relief  in  Belgium   leaving 

Rotterdam  with  cargoes  of  food 331 

Front  page  of  La  Libre  Belgique 338 

Edward  D.  Curtis 338 

Appeal  of  the  Queen  of  the  Belgians  for  Help  from  America 

{in  text) 338 

Julius  Van  Hee,  American  Vice-Consul  at  Ghent 340 

Lewis  Richards 340 


X  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACINO 
PAGE 


A  Brussels  soup-kitchen  run  by  volunteers 341 

Meals  served  to  the  children  in  the  schools 341 

German   proclamation    announcing   the   execution    of   Miss 

Cavell  {in  text) 346 

Miss  Edith  Cavell 354 

Fly-leaf  of  Miss  Cavell's  prayer  book 355 

Notes  in  Miss  Cavell's  prayer  book 358,  359 


INTRODUCTION 

This  volume  is  not  a  carefully  prepared  treatise  on 
the  war.  It  does  not  set  out  to  prove  anything.  It  is 
merely  what  its  title  indicates — a  private  journal  jotted 
down  hastily  from  day  to  day  in  odd  moments,  when 
more  pressing  duties  would  permit.  Much  material 
has  been  ehminated  as  of  little  interest.  Other  mate- 
rial of  interest  has  been  left  out  because  it  cannot  be 
published  at  this  time.  It  is  beheved,  however,  that 
what  is  printed  here  will  suffice  to  give  some  idea  of 
life  in  Belgium  during  the  first  few  months  of  the  war. 

I  have  eliminated  from  the  journal  most  of  the 
matter  about  the  early  history  of  the  Commission  for 
Rehef  in  Belgium.  My  day-to-day  record  did  not  do 
any  sort  of  justice  to  the  subject,  and  since  it  was  not 
adequate,  I  have  preferred  to  eliminate  all  but  such 
casual  reference  to  the  relief  work  as  is  necessary  to 
maintain  the  narrative.  I  am  reconciled  to  this  treat- 
ment of  the  subject  by  the  knowledge  that  the  story- 
will  be  told  comprehensively  and  well  by  Dr.  Vernon 
Kellogg,  who  will  soon  pubhsh  an  authoritative  history 
of  the  Commission's  work.  As  former  Director  of  the 
Commission  in  Belgium,  he  has  the  detailed  knowledge 
of  its  workings  and  the  sympathetic  understanding  of 
its  purpose,  which  peculiarly  fit  him  for  the  task. 

The  work  of  the  Commission  is  of  a  scope  and  sig- 
nificance that  few  of  us  realise.  It  is  without  doubt 
the  greatest  humanitarian  enterprise  in  history,  con- 

xi 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

ducted  under  conditions  of  almost  incredible  difficulty. 
To  those  who  had  an  understanding  of  the  work,  it  had 
a  compeUing  appeal,  not  only  as  an  opportunity  for 
service  but  also  as  the  greatest  conservation  project  of 
all  time — the  conservation  of  one  of  the  finest  races  of 
our  civilisation. 

In  its  inception  and  execution,  the  work  of  the  Com- 
mission is  distinctively  American.  Its  inception  was 
in  the  mind  of  Herbert  Hoover;  in  its  execution  he  had 
the  whole-hearted  assistance  of  a  little  band  of  quiet 
American  gentlemen  who  laboured  in  Belgium  from 
the  autumn  of  1914  until  we  entered  the  war  in  April 
of  this  year.  They  came  from  all  parts  of  our  country 
and  from  all  walks  of  Hfe.  They  were  simple  work-a- 
day  Americans,  welded  together  by  unwavering  de- 
votion to  the  common  task  and  to  Herbert  Hoover, 
the  "Chief."  It  was  the  splendid  human  side  of  the 
Commission  that  made  it  succeed  in  spite  of  all  obsta- 
cles, and  that  part  of  the  story  will  be  hard  to  tell. 

The  gallant  little  band  is  now  widely  scattered. 
Some  are  carrying  on  their  old  work  from  Holland  or 
England  or  America  in  order  to  ensure  a  steady  flow 
of  food  to  Belgium.  Others  are  serving  our  Govern- 
ment in  various  capacities  or  fighting  in  the  armies  of 
our  allies.  Some  of  them  we  shall  not  see  again  and 
there  will  never  be  another  reunion,  as  in  the  old  days, 
when  the  "Chief"  came  over  from  London  to  Brussels 
with  work  to  be  done.  But  the  bright  light  of  kindly 
human  service  which  brought  them  all  together  is  still 
aflame  and  will  always  be  an  inspiration  to  those  who 
served,  however  humbly,  in  the  great  work. 

Washington,  D.  C,  Sept.  24,  1917. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION 
IN  BELGIUM 


A  Journal  From  Our  Legation  In  Belgium 

jr^RUSSELS,  July  4,  WlJ^—Aher  years  of  hard 

t   ^  work  and  revolutions  and  wars  and  rumours 

#     ^  of  war,  the  change  to  this  quiet  post  has  been 

most  welcome    and  I  have  wallowed   in  the 

luxury  of  having  time  to  play. 

For  the  last  year  or  two  I  have  looked  forward  to 
just  such  a  post  as  this,  where  nothing  ever  happens, 
where  there  is  no  earthly  chance  of  being  called  out 
of  bed  in  the  middle  of  the  night  to  see  the  human 
race  brawling  over  its  differences.  When  pounding 
along  in  the  small  hours  of  the  night,  nearly  dead  with 
fatigue,  I  have  thought  that  I  should  like  to  have 
a  long  assignment  to  just  such  a  post  and  become  a 
diplomatic  Lotos  Eater.     And  at  first  it  w^as  great  fun. 

That  phase  lasted  until  I  had  had  a  thorough  rest, 
and  then  the  longing  for  something  more  active  began 
to  manifest  itself. 

I  sat  down  and  wrote  to  the  Department  of  State 
that  while  I  greatly  appreciated  having  been  sent  to 
this  much-coveted  post  I  was  ready  whenever  there 
might  be  need  of  my  services  to  go  where  there  was 
work  to  be  done. 

July  28,  iPi^.— Well,  the  roof  has  fallen  in.  War 
was  declared  this  afternoon  by  Austria.     The  town  is 

3 


4      A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

seething  with  excitement  and  everybody  seems  to 
reaUse  how  near  they  are  to  the  big  stage.  Three 
classes  of  reserves  have  already  been  called  to  the 
colours  to  defend  Belgian  neutrality.  A  general 
mobilisation  is  prepared  and  may  be  declared  at  any 
time.  The  Bourse  has  been  closed  to  prevent  too 
much  play  on  the  situation,  and  let  things  steady 
themselves.  In  every  other  way  the  hatches  have 
been  battened  down  and  preparations  made  for  heavy 
weather. 

To-night  the  streets  are  crowded  and  demonstrations 
for  and  against  war  are  being  held.  The  Socialists 
have  Jaures,  their  French  leader,  up  from  Paris,  and 
have  him  haranguing  an  anti-war  demonstration  in 
the  Grande  Place,  where  a  tremendous  crowd  has 
collected.  Nobody  on  earth  can  see  where  it  will  all 
lead.  England  is  trying  hard  to  localise  the  conflict, 
and  has  valuable  help.     If  she  does  not  succeed  *  *  * 

An  advance  guard  of  tourists  is  arriving  from  France, 
Germany,  and  Switzerland,  and  a  lot  of  them  drop  in 
for  advice  as  to  whether  it  is  safe  for  them  to  go  to 
various  places  in  Europe.  And  most  of  them  seem 
to  feel  that  we  really  have  authoritative  information 
as  to  what  the  next  few  days  are  to  bring  forth,  and 
resent  the  fact  that  we  are  too  disobliging  to  tell  them 
the  inside  news.  A  deluge  of  this  sort  would  be  easier 
for  a  full-sized  Embassy  to  grapple  with,  but  as  Bel- 
gium is  one  of  those  places  where  nothing  ever  happens 
we  have  the  smallest  possible  organisation,  consisting 
on  a  peace  basis  of  the  Minister  and  myself,  with  one 
clerk.  We  shall  have  somehow  to  build  up  an  emer- 
gency force  to  meet  the  situation. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM     5 

July  30th. — ^No  line  on  the  future  yet.  Brussels  is 
beginning  to  look  warlike.  Troops  are  beginning  to 
appear.  The  railway  stations  have  been  occupied,  and 
the  Boy  Scouts  are  swarming  over  the  town  as  busy 
as  bird  dogs.  A  week  ago  there  was  hardly  a  tourist 
in  Brussels.  Now  the  Legation  hall  is  filled  with  them, 
and  they  all  demand  precise  information  as  to  what  is 
going  to  happen  next  and  where  they  can  go  with 
a  guarantee  from  the  Legation  that  they  will  not  get 
into  trouble. 

July  31st. — No,  my  recent  remarks  about  nothing 
ever  happening  in  Brussels  were  not  intended  as 
sarcasm.  I  thought  Belgium  was  the  one  place 
where  I  could  be  sure  of  a  quiet  time,  and  here  we 
are  right  in  the  centre  of  it.  Even  if  nothing  more 
happens  we  have  had  enough  excitement  to  last  me 
for  some  time.  The  doings  of  the  past  few  days  have 
brought  out  some  idea  of  what  a  general  European 
war  would  mean — and  it  is  altogether  too  dreadful 
to  think  of. 

Saturday,  Aug,  1st, — ^Last  night  when  I  went 
home,  at  about  midnight,  I  found  the  police  going 
about  with  the  orders  for  mobilisation,  ringing  the 
door  bells  and  summoning  the  men  to  the  colours. 
There  was  no  time  to  tarry,  but  each  man  tumbled 
out  of  bed  into  his  clothes  and  hurried  away  to  his 
regiment.  Two  of  my  neighbours  were  routed  out  a 
little  after  midnight,  and  got  away  within  the  hour. 
There  was  a  good  deal  of  weeping  and  handshaking 
and  farewelling,  and  it  was  not  the  sort  of  thing  to 
promote  restful  sleep. 


6      A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

This  morning  I  got  down  to  the  chancery  at  a  quarter 
past  eight,  and  found  that  Omer,  our  good  messenger, 
had  been  summoned  to  the  colours.  He  had  gone,  of 
course,  and  had  left  a  note  for  me  to  announce  the  fact. 
He  had  been  ill,  and  could  perfectly  well  have  been 
exempted.  The  other  day,  when  we  had  discussed  the 
matter,  I  had  told  him  that  there  would  be  no  difficulty 
in  getting  him  off.  He  showed  no  enthusiasm,  how^ever, 
and  merely  remarked,  without  heroics,  that  it  was  up 
to  him. 

Colonel  Falls,  7th  Regiment,  of  the  National  Guard 
of  New  York,  came  in,  having  been  sent  back  from 
the  frontier.  He  had  the  pleasure  of  standing  all  the 
way  as  the  trains  were  packed. 

Millard  Shaler,  the  American  mining  engineer,  who 
had  just  come  back  from  the  Congo,  came  in  with 
his  amusing  Belgian  friend  .who  had  been  telling  us 
for  weeks  about  the  wonderful  new  car  in  which  he 
w^as  investing.  This  time  he  came  around  to  let  me 
have  a  look  at  it,  he  having  been  advised  that  the 
car  was  requisitioned  and  due  to  be  taken  over  to-day. 

We  have  done  a  land-office  business  in  passports,  and 
shall  probably  continue  to  turn  them  out  by  the  dozen. 

Sunday,  August  2d. — ^Another  hectic  day  with 
promise  of  more  to  come. 

This  morning  I  came  down  a  little  earlier  than  usual 
and  found  the  Minister  already  hard  at  it.  He  had 
been  routed  out  of  bed  and  had  not  had  time  to  bathe 
or  shave.  There  was  nothing  to  show  that  it  was  a 
Sunday — nearly  twice  as  many  callers  as  yesterday, 
and  they  were  more  exacting. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM      7 

Mrs.  A —  B —  C —  came  in  airily  and  announced 
that  she  had  started  from  Paris  yesterday  on  a  motor 
tour  through  France  and  Belgium.  Having  got  this 
far,  some  rude  person  had  told  her  that  her  motor 
might  be  seized  by  the  Government  for  military  pur- 
poses and  that  an  order  had  been  promulgated  for- 
bidding any  one  to  take  cars  out  of  the  country.  She 
came  around  confidently  to  have  us  assure  her  that 
this  was  a  wicked  lie — and  needless  to  say  was  deeply 
disappointed  in  us  when  we  failed  to  back  her  up. 
We  had  refrained  from  asking  the  Government  to 
release  our  own  servants  from  their  military  obligations 
and  have  refused  to  interfere  for  anybody  else,  but 
that  was  not  enough  for  her.  She  left,  a  highly  indig- 
nant lady. 

The  story  is  around  town  this  afternoon  that  the 
Germans  have  already  crossed  the  frontier  without 
the  formality  of  a  declaration  of  war — ^but  that  remains 
to  be  seen.  Brussels  was  put  under  martial  law  last 
night,  and  is  now  patrolled  by  grenadiers  and  lancers. 

The  money  situation  is  bad.  All  small  change  has 
disappeared  in  the  general  panic,  and  none  of  it  has 
dared  show  its  head  during  the  past  few  days.  The 
next  thing  done  by  panicky  people  was  to  pass  round 
word  that  the  Government  bank  notes  were  no  good 
and  would  not  be  honoured.  Lots  of  shops  are  refusing 
to  accept  bank  notes,  and  few  places  can  make  any 
change.  The  police  are  lined  up  outside  the  banks 
keeping  people  in  line.  People  in  general  are  frantic 
with  fear,  and  are  trampling  each  other  in  the  rush 
to  get  money  out  of  the  banks  before  the  crash  that 
probably  will  not  come.    Travelers  who  came  here  with 


8      A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

pockets  bulging  with  express  checks  and  bank  notes 
are  unable  to  get  a  cent  of  real  money,  and  nobody 
shows  any  enthusiasm  over  American  paper.  I  have 
a  few  bank  notes  left,  and  this  evening  when  I 
went  into  a  restaurant  I  have  patronised  ever  since 
my  arrival  the  head  waiter  refused  to  change  a  note 
for  me,  and  I  finally  had  to  leave  it  and  take  credit 
against  future  meals  to  be  eaten  there.  We  may  have 
our  troubles  when  our  small  store  is  gone,  but  probably 
the  situation  will  improve  and  I  refuse  to  worry.  And 
some  of  our  compatriots  don't  understand  why  the 
Legation  does  not  have  a  cellar  full  of  hard  money  to 
finance  them  through  their  stay  in  Europe. 

Communications,  with  such  parts  of  the  world  as 
we  still  speak  to,  are  getting  very  diflficult  on  account 
of  mobilisation,  the  military  having  right  of  way. 
This  morning's  Paris  papers  have  not  come  in  this 
evening,  and  there  are  no  promises  as  to  when  we  shall 
see  them.  The  news  in  the  local  papers  is  scarce  and 
doubtful,  and  I  hope  for  a  word  from  Paris. 

Word  has  just  come  in  that  the  Government  has 
seized  the  supplies  of  bread,  rice,  and  beans,  and  will 
fix  prices  for  the  present.  That  is  a  sensible  and 
steadying  thing,  and  should  have  a  good  effect. 

Nobody  seems  to  remember  that  a  few  days  ago 
Serbia  was  playing  a  star  role  in  this  affair.  She 
seems  to  have  faded  away  behind  the  scenes.  A  few 
days  ago,  Mexico  loomed  large  in  the  papers  and  now 
we  have  forgotten  that  she  ever  existed.  Albania 
supplied  a  lot  of  table  talk,  and  now  we  think  about 
as  much  about  her  and  her  troubles  as  we  do  about 
Thibet. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM      9 

This  afternoon  I  went  around  to  the  Rue  Ducale 
to  take  a  look  at  the  French  Legation.  The  tricolor 
was  flying  in  the  fresh  breeze,  and  there  was  a  big 
crowd  outside  cheering  itself  hoarse.  It  was  made  up 
of  men  who  were  called  to  the  colors  and  were  waiting 
to  enroll  themselves  and  get  instructions  as  to  where 
they  should  report  for  duty.  The  air  was  electric,  and 
every  now  and  then  the  military  band  struck  up  the 
Marseillaise  and  the  crowd  instantly  became  happily 
delirious.  Some  of  them  had  been  standing  in  the  sun 
for  hours  waiting  to  get  in  and  get  their  orders,  but 
they  were  just  as  keenly  responsive  to  the  music  and 
the  mood  of  the  crowd  as  anybody.  All  the  crowd  in 
the  Legation  had  been  working  day  and  night  for  days, 
and  was  dead  with  fatigue;  but,  some  way,  they  kept 
going,  and  managed  to  be  civil  and  friendly  when  I 
had  business  with  them.  How  they  do  it  I  don't 
know.  A  Frenchman's  politeness  must  be  more  deeply 
ingrained  than  even  I  had  supposed. 

On  the  way  back  from  the  Legation  this  evening, 
I  saw  von  Below,  the  German  Minister,  driving  home 
from  the  Foreign  Office  to  his  Legation.  He  passed 
close  to  me,  and  I  saw  that  the  perspiration  was  standing 
out  on  his  forehead.  He  held  his  hat  in  his  hand  and 
puffed  at  a  cigarette  like  a  mechanical  toy,  blowing 
out  jerky  clouds  of  smoke.  He  looked  neither  to  left 
nor  right,  and  failed  to  give  me  his  usual  ceremonious 
bow.  He  is  evidently  not  at  ease  about  the  situation, 
although  he  continues  to  figure  in  the  newspapers  as 
stating  that  all  is  well,  that  Germany  has  no  intention 
of  setting  foot  on  Belgian  soil,  and  that  all  Belgium 
has  to  do  is  to  keep  calm.    In  an  interview  given  to 


10    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Le  Soir  he  sums  up  his  reassuring  remarks  by  saying: 
"Your  neighbour's  house  may  burn  but  yours  will  be 
safe." 

August  3,  19H. — ^No  mail  in  to-day.  All  com- 
munications seem  to  be  stopped  for  the  time  being  at 
least.  Mobilisation  here  and  in  France  requires  all  the 
efforts  of  all  hands,  and  little  workaday  things  like 
mail  and  newspapers  go  by  the  board. 

According  to  the  news  which  was  given  me  when 
I  got  out  of  bed  this  morning,  the  German  Minister 
last  night  presented  to  the  Belgian  Government  an 
ultimatum  demanding  the  right  to  send  German  troops 
across  Belgium  to  attack  France.  He  was  evidently 
returning  from  this  pleasant  duty  when  I  saw  him 
last  night,  for  the  ultimatum  seems  to  have  been 
presented  at  seven  o'clock.  The  King  presided  over 
a  Cabinet  Council  which  sat  all  night;  and  when  the 
twelve  hours  given  by  the  ultimatum  had  expired,  at 
seven  this  morning,  a  flat  refusal  was  sent  to  the 
German  Legation.  Arrangements  were  got  under  way, 
as  the  Council  sat,  to  defend  the  frontiers  of  the  country 
against  aggression.  During  the  night  the  garrison  left 
and  the  Garde  Civique  came  on  duty  to  police  the  town. 

The  influx  of  callers  was  greater  to-day  than  at  any 
time  so  far,  and  we  were  fairly  swamped.  Miss  Larner 
came  in  and  worked  like  a  Trojan,  taking  passport 
applications  and  reassuring  the  women  who  wanted 
to  be  told  that  the  Germans  would  not  kill  them  even 
when  they  got  to  Brussels.    She  is  a  godsend  to  us. 

Monsieur  de  Leval,  the  Belgian  lawyer  who  for  ten 
years  has  been  the  legal  counselor  of  the  Legation, 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    1 1 

came  in  and  brought  some  good  clerks  with  him.  He 
also  hung  up  his  hat  and  went  to  work,  making  all 
sorts  of  calls  at  the  Foreign  Office,  seeing  callers,  and 
going  about  to  the  different  Legations.  Granville 
Fortescue  came  in  from  Ostend,  and  I  should  have 
put  him  to  work  but  that  he  had  plans  of  his  own  and 
has  decided  to  blossom  forth  as  a  war  correspondent. 
He  is  all  for  getting  to  the  ''front"  if  any. 

Just  to  see  what  would  happen,  I  went  to  the  tele- 
phone after  lunch  and  asked  to  be  put  through  to  the 
Embassy  at  London.  To  my  surprise,  I  got  the  con- 
nection in  a  few  minutes  and  had  a  talk  with  Bell,  the 
Second  Secretary.  The  Cabinet  had  been  sitting  since 
eleven  this  morning,  but  had  announced  no  decision. 
I  telephoned  him  again  this  evening  and  got  the  same 
reply.  Bell  said  that  they  had  several  hundred  people 
in  the  chancery  and  were  preparing  for  a  heavy  blow. 

As  nearly  as  we  can  make  out  the  Germans  have 
sent  patrols  into  Belgian  territory,  but  there  have 
been  no  actual  operations  so  far.  All  day  long  we 
have  been  getting  stories  to  the  effect  that  there  has 
been  a  battle  at  Vise  and  that  fifteen  hundred  Belgians 
had  been  killed;  later  it  was  stated  that  they  had 
driven  the  Germans  back  with  heavy  losses.  The  net 
result  is  that  at  the  end  of  the  day  we  know  Uttle  more 
than  we  did  this  morning. 

Parliament  is  summoned  to  meet  in  special  session 
to-morrow  morning  to  hear  what  the  King  has  to  say 
about  the  German  ultimatum.  It  will  be  an  interesting 
sight.  Parliament  has  long  been  rent  with  most  bitter 
factional  quarrels,  but  I  hear  that  all  these  are  to  be 
forgotten  and  that  all  parties,  Socialists  included,  are 


n    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

to  rally  round  the  throne  in  a  great  demonstration 
of  loyalty. 

All  the  regular  troops  have  been  withdrawn  from 
this  part  of  the  country  and  dispatched  to  the 
front,  leaving  the  protection  of  the  capital  to  the 
Garde  Civique,  who  are  patrolling  the  streets,  to 
examine  the  papers  of  everybody  who  moves  about. 
This  is  a  sort  of  local  guard  made  up  of  people  who 
have  not  been  called  for  active  military  service,  but 
who  have  volunteered  for  local  defense.  They  are 
from  every  class — lawyers  and  butchers  and  bakers 
and  dentists  and  university  professors.  They  have, 
of  course,  had  little  training  for  this  sort  of  work,  and 
have  had  only  elementary  orders  to  guide  them.  These 
they  carry  out  to  the  letter.  There  are  detachments 
of  them  at  all  sorts  of  strategic  points  in  the  city 
where  they  hold  up  passing  vehicles  to  see  who  is 
inside.  I  have  been  stopped  by  them  goodness  knows 
how  many  times  this  day.  They  hold  up  the  car,  look 
inside,  apologise,  and  explain  good-naturedly  that  they 
are  obliged  to  bother  me,  asking  who  I  am,  and  after 
I  have  satisfied  them  with  papers  that  any  well- 
equipped  spy  would  be  ashamed  of,  they  let  me  go 
on  with  more  apologies.  They  rejoice  in  a  traditional 
uniform  topped  off  by  a  derby  hat  w^ith  kangaroo 
feathers  on  it.  This  is  anything  but  martial  in  appear- 
ance and  seems  to  affect  their  funny  bone  as  it  does  mine. 

August  5th. — ^Yesterday  morning  we  got  about  early 
and  made  for  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  to  hear  the 
King's  speech.  The  Minister  and  I  walked  over 
together  and  met  a  few  straggling  colleagues  headed 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    13 

in  the  same  direction.  Most  of  them  had  got  there 
ahead  of  us,  and  the  galleries  were  all  jammed.  The 
Rue  Roy  ale,  from  the  Palace  around  the  park  to  the 
Parliament  building,  was  packed  with  people,  held  in 
check  by  the  Garde  Civique.  There  was  a  buzz  as 
of  a  thousand  bees  and  every  face  was  ablaze — the 
look  of  a  people  who  have  been  trampled  on  for 
hundreds  of  years  and  have  not  learned  to  submit. 
The  Garde  Civique  had  two  bands  in  front  of  the 
Senate,  and  they  tried  to  play  the  Brabangonne  in 
unison.  Neither  of  them  could  play  the  air  in  tune, 
and  they  were  about  a  bar  apart  all  the  time.  They 
played  it  through  and  then  began  to  play  it  over  again 
without  a  pause  between.  They  blew  and  pounded 
steadily  for  nearly  half  an  hour,  and  the  more  they 
played,  the  more  enthusiastic  the  crowds  became. 

When  I  saw  how  crowded  the  galleries  were  I  thought 
I  would  not  push,  so  resigned  myself  to  missing  the 
speech  and  went  out  onto  a  balcony  with  Webber,  of 
the  British  Legation,  to  see  the  arrival  of  the  King 
and  Queen.  We  had  the  balcony  to  ourselves,  as  every- 
body else  was  inside  fighting  for  a  place  in  the  galleries 
to  hear  the  speech. 

When  the  King  and  Queen  finally  left  the  Palace 
we  knew  it  from  a  roar  of  cheering  that  came  surging 
across  the  Park.  The  little  procession  came  along  at 
a  smart  trot,  and  although  it  was  hidden  from  us  by 
the  trees  we  could  follow  its  progress  by  the  steadily 
advancing  roaring  of  the  mob.  When  they  turned 
from  the  Rue  Roy  ale  into  the  Rue  de  la  Loi,  the  crowd 
in  front  of  the  Parliament  buildings  took  up  the  cheer- 
ing in  a  way  to  make  the  windows  rattle. 


14    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

First  came  the  staff  of  the  King  and  members  of 
his  household.  Then  the  Queen,  accompanied  by  the 
royal  children,  in  an  open  daumont.  The  cheering 
for  the  Queen  was  full-throated  and  with  no  sign  of 
doubt,  because  of  her  Bavarian  birth  and  upbringing — 
she  is  looked  on  as  a  Belgian  Queen  and  nothing  else. 

After  the  Queen  came  a  carriage  or  two  with  members 
of  the  royal  family  and  the  Court.  Finally  the  King  on 
horseback.  He  was  in  the  field  uniform  of  a  lieutenant- 
general,  with  no  decorations  and  none  of  the  ceremonial 
trappings  usual  on  such  occasions  as  a  speech  from  the 
Throne.  He  was  followed  by  a  few  members  of  his 
staff  who  also  looked  as  though  they  were  meant  more 
for  business  than  for  dress  parade. 

As  the  King  drew  rein  and  dismounted,  the  cheering 
burst  forth  with  twice  its  former  volume;  and,  in  a 
frantic  demonstration  of  loyalty,  hats  and  sticks  were 
thrown  into  the  air.  Two  bands  played  on  manfully, 
but  we  could  hear  only  an  occasional  discord. 

Just  as  the  King  started  into  the  building  an  usher 
came  out,  touched  me  on  the  arm  and  said  something, 
beckoning  me  to  come  inside.  One  of  the  galleries  had 
been  locked  by  mistake  but  had  now  been  opened,  and 
Webber  and  I  were  rewarded  for  our  modesty  by  being 
given  the  whole  thing  to  ourselves.  In  a  few  minutes 
the  Bolivian  Charge  came  in  and  joined  us.  Our  places 
were  not  ten  feet  from  the  Throne,  and  we  could  not 
have  been  better  placed. 

The  Queen  came  in  quietly  from  one  side  and  took 
a  throne  to  the  left  of  the  tribune,  after  acknowledging 
a  roaring  welcome  from  the  members  of  the  two 
Houses.     Wlien  the  cheering  had  subsided,  the  King 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    15 

walked  in  alone  from  the  right,  bowed  gravely  to  the 
assembly  and  walked  quickly  to  the  dais  above  and 
behind  the  tribune.  With  a  business-like  gesture  he 
tossed  his  cap  on  to  the  ledge  before  him  and  threw 
his  white  cotton  gloves  into  it — then  drew  out  his 
speech  and  read  it.  At  first  his  voice  was  not  very- 
steady  but  he  soon  controlled  it  and  read  the  speech 
to  the  end  in  a  voice  that  was  vibrating  with  emotion 
but  without  any  oratory  or  heroics.  He  went  straight 
to  the  vital  need  for  union  between  all  factions  and 
all  parties,  between  the  French,  Flemish,  and  Walloon 
races,  between  Catholics,  Liberals,  and  SociaUsts  in  a 
determined  resistance  to  the  attack  upon  Belgian 
independence.  The  House  could  contain  itself  for  only 
a  few  minutes  at  a  time,  and  as  every  point  was  driven 
home  they  burst  into  frantic  cheering.  When  the  King, 
addressing  himself  directly  to  the  members  of  Parlia- 
ment, said,  "Are  you  determined  at  any  cost  to  main- 
tain the  sacred  heritage  of  our  ancestors?"  the  whole 
Chamber  burst  into  a  roar,  and  from  the  Socialists' 
side  came  cries  of:  "At  any  cost,  by  death  if  need  be." 
It  was  simple  and  to  the  point — a  manly  speech. 
And  as  he  delivered  it  he  was  a  kingly  figure,  facing 
for  the  sake  of  honour  what  he  knew  to  be  the  gravest 
danger  that  could  ever  come  to  his  country  and  his 
people.  When  he  had  finished  he  bowed  to  the  Queen, 
then  to  the  Parliament,  and  then  walked  quickly  out 
of  the  room,  while  the  assembly  roared  again.  The 
Senators  and  Deputies  swarmed  about  the  King  on 
his  way  out,  cheering  and  trying  to  shake  him  by  the 
hand — and  none  were  more  at  pains  to  voice  their 
devotion  than  the  Socialists. 


16    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

After  he  had  gone  the  Queen  rose,  bowed  shyly  to 
the  assembly,  and  withdrew  with  the  royal  children. 
She  was  given  a  rousing  ovation  as  everybody  realised 
the  difficulty  of  her  position  and  was  doubly  anxious 
to  show  her  all  their  confidence  and  affection.  The 
whole  occasion  was  moving,  but  when  the  little  Queen 
acknowledged  the  ovation  so  shyly  and  so  sadly  and 
withdrew,  the  tears  were  pretty  near  the  surface — ^my 
surface  at  any  rate. 

For  several  minutes  after  the  Queen  withdrew  the 
cheering  continued.  Suddenly  a  tense  silence  fell  upon 
the  room.  M.  de  Broqueville,  the  Prime  Minister, 
had  mounted  the  tribune  and  stood  waiting  for  atten- 
tion. He  was  clearly  under  great  stress  of  emotion, 
and  as  the  House  settled  itself  to  hear  him  he  brushed 
away  the  tears  that  had  started  to  his  eyes.  He  began 
in  a  very  direct  way  by  saying  that  he  would  limit 
himself  to  reading  a  few  documents  and  hoped  that, 
after  hearing  them,  the  House  would  consider  the 
Government  worthy  of  the  confidence  that  had  been 
reposed  in  it  and  that  immediate  action  would  be  taken 
upon  matters  of  urgent  importance.  He  first  read  the 
German  ultimatum,*  which  was  received  quietly  but 

*  The  following  is  the  text  of  the  German  ultimatum: 

Brussels,  August  2,  1914. 

Very  Confidential. 

Reliable  information  has  been  received  by  the  German  Gov- 
ernment to  the  effect  that  French  forces  intend  to  march  on  the 
hne  of  the  Meuse  by  Gtvet  and  Namur.  This  information  leaves 
no  doubt  as  to  the  intention  of  France  to  march  through  Belgian 
territory  against  Germany. 

The  German  Government  cannot  but  fear  that  Belgium,  in 


Deutfdje  (ScfQnMfdjoft 

in  Sclgicn  o-^  ^  /     ^    /? 

jJUoKi^  Z*i^'^  /(<£Jci'  ^  ^^^t£^  K/^ZH4t£^^^ 

dee  ^cdt^/^u^  ^e/cific€£a^^ia^j^^e^i^i^  reto^e^ 
Fac-simile  of  the  first  page  of  the  German  ultimatum  to  Belgium 


■"<■ 


Pass  issued  by  the  Belgian  military  authorities  to  enable 
Mr.  Gibson  to  enter  the  German  Legation  at  Brussels 


Maitre  Gaston  de  Leval,  legal  adviser  to  the  American  Legation 

in  Brussels 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    17 

spite  of  the  utmost  goodwill,  will  be  unable,  without  assistance, 
to  repel  so  considerable  a  French  invasion  with  sufficient  prospect 
of  success  to  afford  an  adequate  guarantee  against  danger  to  Ger- 
many. It  is  essential  for  the  self-defence  of  Germany  that  she 
should  anticipate  any  such  hostile  attack.  The  German  Govern- 
ment would,  however,  feel  the  deepest  regret  if  Belgium  regarded 
as  an  act  of  hostility  against  herself  the  fact  that  the  measures 
of  Germany's  opponents  force  Germany,  for  her  own  protection, 
to  enter  Belgian  territory. 

In  order  to  exclude  any  possibility  of  misunderstanding,  the 
German  Government  make  the  following  declaration: 

1.  Germany  has  in  view  no  act  of  hostility  against  Belgium. 
In  the  event  of  Belgium  being  prepared  in  the  coming  war  to 
maintain  an  attitude  of  friendly  neutrality  towards  Germany,  the 
German  Government  bind  themselves,  at  the  conclusion  of  peace, 
to  guarantee  the  possessions  and  independence  of  the  Belgian 
Kingdom  in  full. 

2.  Germany  undertakes,  under  the  above-mentioned  condi- 
tion, to  evacuate  Belgian  territory  on  the  conclusion  of  peace. 

3.  If  Belgium  adopts  a  friendly  attitude,  Germany  is  pre- 
pared, in  co-operation  with  the  Belgian  authorities,  to  purchase 
all  necessaries  for  her  troops  against  a  cash  payment,  and  to  pay 
an  indemnity  for  any  damage  that  may  have  been  caused  by 
German  troops. 

4.  Should  Belgium  oppose  the  German  troops,  and  In  par- 
ticular should  she  throw  difficulties  in  the  way  of  their  march  by  a 
resistance  of  the  fortresses  on  the  Meuse,  or  by  destroying  rail- 
ways, roads,  tunnels  or  other  similar  works,  Germany  will,  to  her 
regret,  be  compelled  to  consider  Belgium  as  an  enemy. 

In  this  event,  Germany  can  undertake  no  obligations  towards 
Belgium,  but  the  eventual  adjustment  of  the  relations  between 
the  two  States  must  be  left  to  the  decision  of  arms. 

The  German  Government,  however,  entertain  the  distinct 
hope  that  this  eventuality  will  not  occur,  and  that  the  Belgian 
Government  will  know  how  to  take  the  necessary  measures  to 
prevent  the  occurrence  of  incidents  such  as  those  mentioned. 
In  this  case  the  friendly  ties  which  bind  the  two  neighbouring 
States  will  grow  stronger  and  more  enduring. 


18    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

with  indignation  and  anger  which  was  with  difficulty 
suppressed.  Without  commenting  upon  the  German 
note,  he  then  read  the  reply  which  had  been  handed 
to  the  German  Minister.*    This  was  followed  by  a  final 


*The  Belgian  Government  replied  as  follows  to  the  German 
ultimatum : 

The  German  Government  stated  in  their  note  of  the  2nd 
August,  1914,  that  according  to  reliable  information  French 
forces  intended  to  march  on  the  Meuse  via  Givet  and  Namur, 
and  that  Belgium,  in  spite  of  the  best  intentions,  would  not  be  in 
a  position  to  repulse,  without  assistance,  an  advance  of  French 
troops. 

The  German  Government,  therefore,  considered  themselves 
compelled  to  anticipate  this  attack  and  to  violate  Belgian  terri- 
tory. In  these  circumstances,  Germany  proposed  that  the  Bel- 
gian Government  adopt  a  friendly  attitude  towards  her,  and 
undertook,  on  the  conclusion  of  peace,  to  guarantee  the  integrity 
of  the  Kingdom  and  its  possessions  to  their  full  extent.  The  note 
added  that  if  Belgium  put  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  advance  of 
German  troops,  Germany  would  be  compelled  to  consider  her  as 
an  enemy,  and  to  leave  the  ultimate  adjustment  of  the  relations 
between  the  two  States  to  the  decision  of  arms. 

This  note  has  made  a  deep  and  painful  impression  upon  the 
Belgian  Government. 

The  intentions  attributed  to  France  by  Germany  are  in  con- 
tradiction to  the  formal  declarations  made  to  us  on  August  1st 
in  the  name  of  the  French  Government. 

Moreover,  if  contrary  to  our  expectation,  Belgian  neutrality 
should  be  violated  by  France,  Belgium  intends  to  fulfil  her  inter- 
national obligations  and  the  Belgian  army  would  offer  the  most 
vigorous  resistance  to  the  invader. 

The  treaties  of  1839,  confirmed  by  the  treaties  of  1870,  vouch 
for  the  independence  and  neutrality  of  Belgium  under  the  guar- 
antee of  the  Powers,  and  notably  of  His  Majesty  the  King  of 
Prussia. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    19 

note  delivered  by  the  German  Minister  this  morning 
stating  "that  in  view  of  the  refusal  of  the  King  to 
accede  to  the  well-intentioned  proposals  of  the  Em- 
peror, the  Imperial  Government,  greatly  to  its  regret, 
was  obliged  to  carry  out  by  force  of  arms  the  measures 
indispensable  to  its  security."  After  reading  these 
documents  he  made  a  short  and  ringing  speech,  full  of 
fire,  which  was  repeatedly  interrupted  by  cheers.  When 
he  came  down  from  the  tribune  he  was  surrounded  by 
cheering  Senators  and  Deputies  struggling  to  shake 
his  hand  and  express  their  approval  of  his  speech. 
Even  the  Socialists  who  had  fought  him  for  years  rose 
to  the  occasion  and  vied  with  their  colleagues  in  their 
demonstrations  of  enthusiasm.  Broqueville  rose  again 
and  said:  ''In  the  present  crisis  we  have  received  from 
the   opposition   a   whole-hearted   support;   they   have 

Belgium  has  always  been  faithful  to  her  international  obliga- 
tions; she  has  carried  out  her  duties  in  a  spirit  of  loyal  impartial- 
ity and  she  has  left  nothing  undone  to  maintain  and  enforce  re- 
spect for  her  neutrality. 

The  attack  upon  her  independence  with  which  the  German 
Government  threaten  her  constitutes  a  flagrant  violation  of  inter- 
national law.    No  strategic  interest  justifies  such  a  violation  of  law. 

The  Belgian  Government,  if  they  were  able  to  accept  the 
proposals  submitted  to  them,  would  sacrifice  the  honour  of  the 
nation  and  betray  their  duty  towards  Europe. 

Conscious  of  the  part  which  Belgium  has  played  for  more  than 
eighty  years  in  the  civilisation  of  the  world,  they  refuse  to  believe 
that  the  independence  of  Belgium  can  only  be  preserved  at  the 
price  of  the  violation  of  her  neutrality. 

If  this  hope  is  disappointed  the  Belgian  Government  are  firmly 
resolved  to  repel,  by  all  the  means  in  their  power,  every  attack 
upon  their  rights. 

Brussels,  August  3,  1914  (7  A.M.). 


20    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

rallied  to  our  side  in  the  most  impressive  way  in  pre- 
paring the  reply  to  Germany.  In  order  to  emphasise 
this  union  of  all  factions,  His  Majesty  the  King  has 
just  signed  a  decree  appointing  Monsieur  Vandervelde 
as  a  Minister  of  State."  This  announcement  was 
greeted  by  roars  of  applause  from  all  parts  of  the 
House,  and  Vandervelde  was  immediately  surrounded 
by  Ministers  and  Deputies  anxious  to  congratulate 
him.  His  reply  to  the  Prime  Minister's  speech  was 
merely  a  shout  above  the  roar  of  applause:  "I  accept." 

As  we  came  out,  some  of  the  colleagues  were  gathered 
about  debating  whether  they  should  go  over  to  the 
Palace  and  ask  to  take  leave  of  the  King.  They  were 
saved  that  labour,  however,  for  the  King  had  stepped 
into  a  motor  at  the  door  and  was  already  speeding 
to  the  General  Headquarters  which  has  been  set  up 
nobody  knows  where.    That  looks  like  business. 

When  I  got  back  to  the  Legation  I  found  von  Stumm, 
Counselor  of  the  German  Legation,  with  the  news  that 
his  chief  had  received  his  passports  and  must  leave  at 
once.  He  had  come  to  ask  that  the  American  Minister 
take  over  the  care  of  the  German  Legation  and  the 
protection  of  the  German  subjects  who  had  not  yet 
left  the  country.  I  said  that  we  could  not  undertake 
anything  of  that  sort  without  authority  from  Washing- 
ton, and  got  the  Minister  to  telegraph  for  it  when  he 
came  in  from  some  hurried  visits  he  had  made  in 
search  of  news. 

While  we  were  snatching  some  lunch,  von  Stumm 
came  back  with  the  German  Minister,  von  Below,  and 
said  that  some  provisional  arrangement  must  be  made 
at  once  as  the  staff  of  the  Legation  would  have  to  leave 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    21 

for  the  Dutch  frontier  in  the  course  of  the  afternoon — 
long  before  we  could  hope  for  an  answer  from  Washing- 
ton. We  did  not  like  the  idea  of  doing  that  sort  of 
thing  without  the  knowledge  of  Washington,  but 
finally  agreed  to  accept  the  charge  provisionally  on 
grounds  of  humanity,  until  such  time  as  we  should 
receive  specific  instructions  as  to  who  would  be 
definitely  entrusted  with  the  protection  of  German 
interests.  In  case  of  need,  we  shall  be  asked  to  take 
over  certain  other  Legations  and  shall  have  our  hands 
more  than  full. 

At  five  o'clock  we  went  over  to  the  German  Lega- 
tion, which  we  found  surrounded  by  a  heavy  detach- 
ment of  Garde  Civique  as  a  measure  of  protection 
against  violence.  We  drew  up,  signed,  and  sealed 
a  protocol  accepting  what  is  known  as  la  garde  des 
clefs  et  des  sceaux,  until  such  time  as  definite  arrange- 
ments might  be  made.  The  Minister  and  von  Stumm 
were  nearly  unstrung.  They  had  been  under  a  great 
strain  for  some  days  and  were  making  no  effort  to 
get  their  belongings  together  to  take  them  away. 
They  sat  on  the  edge  of  their  chairs,  mopped  their 
brows  and  smoked  cigarettes  as  fast  as  they  could 
light  one  from  another.  I  was  given  a  lot  of  final 
instructions  about  things  to  be  done — and  all  with  the 
statement  that  they  should  be  done  at  once,  as  the 
German  army  would  doubtless  be  in  Brussels  in  three 
days.  While  we  were  talking,  the  chancellor  of  the 
Legation,  Hofrat  Grabowsky,  a  typical  white-haired 
German  functionary,  was  pottering  about  with  sealing 
wax  and  strips  of  paper,  sealing  the  archives  and 
answering  questions  in  a  deliberate  and  perfectly  calm 


22    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

way.  It  was  for  all  the  world  like  a  scene  in  a  play. 
The  shaded  room,  the  two  nervous  diplomats  register- 
ing anxiety  and  strain,  the  old  functionary  who  was 
to  stay  behind  to  guard  the  archives  and  refused  to 
be  moved  from  his  calm  by  the  approaching  cataclysm. 
It  seemed  altogether  unreal,  and  I  had  to  keep  bringing 
myself  back  to  a  realisation  of  the  fact  that  it  was 
only  too  true  and  too  serious. 

They  were  very  ominous  about  what  an  invasion 
means  to  this  country,  and  kept  referring  to  the  army 
as  a  steam  roller  that  will  leave  nothing  standing  in 
its  path.  Stumm  kept  repeating:  ''Oh,  the  poor  fools! 
Why  don't  they  get  out  of  the  way  of  the  steam  roller. 
We  don't  want  to  hurt  them,  but  if  they  stand  in  oLir 
way  they  will  be  ground  into  the  dirt.  Oh,  the  poor 
fools!" 

The  Government  had  a  special  train  ready  for  the 
German  diplomatic  and  consular  officers  who  were  to 
leave,  and  they  got  away  about  seven.  Now,  thank 
goodness,  they  are  safely  in  Holland  and  speeding 
back  to  their  own  country. 

Before  leaving,  Below  gave  out  word  that  we  would 
look  after  German  interests,  and  consequently  we  have 
been  deluged  with  frightened  people  ever  since. 

All  the  Germans  who  have  remained  here  seem  to 
be  paralysed  with  fright,  and  have  for  the  most  part 
taken  refuge  in  convents,  schools,  etc.  There  are 
several  hundreds  of  them  in  the  German  Consulate- 
General  which  has  been  provisioned  as  for  a  siege. 
Popular  feeling  is,  of  course,  running  high  against 
them,  and  there  may  be  incidents,  but  so  far  nothing 
has  happened  to  justify  the  panic. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    23 

This  morning  a  Belgian  priest,  the  Abbe  Upmans, 
came  in  to  say  that  he  had  several  hundred  Germans 
under  his  care  and  wanted  some  provision  made  for 
getting  them  away  before  the  situation  got  any  worse. 

After  talking  the  matter  over  with  the  Minister 
and  getting  his  instructions,  I  took  the  Abbe  in  tow, 
and  with  Monsieur  de  Leval  went  to  the  Foreign 
Office  to  see  about  getting  a  special  train  to  take  these 
people  across  the  border  into  Holland  and  thence  to 
Germany.  At  first,  the  suggestion  was  received  with 
some  resentment  and  I  was  told  flatly  that  there  was 
no  good  reason  for  Belgium  to  hand  over  special  trains 
to  benefit  Germans  when  every  car  was  needed  for 
military  operations.  I  pleaded  that  consideration 
must  be  shown  these  helpless  people  and  that  this 
course  was  just  as  much  in  the  interest  of  Belgium  as 
of  anybody  else,  as  it  would  remove  the  danger  of 
violence  with  possible  reprisals  and  would  relieve  the 
overworked  police  force  of  onerous  duties.  After  some 
argument,  Baron  Donny  went  with  me  to  the  Surete 
Publique  where  we  went  over  the  matter  again  with 
the  Chief.  He  got  the  point  at  once,  and  joined  forces 
with  us  in  a  request  to  the  Minister  of  Railways  for 
a  special  train.  We  soon  arranged  matters  as  far  as 
the  Belgian  frontier.  I  then  telephoned  through  to 
The  Hague,  got  Marshal  Langhorne  and  asked  him 
to  request  the  Dutch  Government  to  send  another 
train  to  the  frontier  to  pick  our  people  up  and  send 
them  through  to  Germany.  He  went  off  with  a  right 
good  will  to  arrange  that,  and  I  hope  to  have  an  answer 
in  the  morning. 

We  plan  to  start  the  train  on  Friday  morning  at 


24    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

i 

four  o'clock,  so  as  to  get  our  people  through  the  streets 
when  there  are  few  people  about.  We  are  making  it 
known  that  all  Germans  who  wish  to  leave  should 
put  in  an  appearance  by  that  time,  and  it  looks  as 
though  we  should  have  from  seven  hundred  to  a 
thousand  to  provide  for.  It  will  be  a  great  relief  to 
get  them  off,  and  I  hold  my  breath  until  the  train  is 
safely  gone. 

The  Belgian  Government  is  making  no  distinction 
between  Germans,  and  is  letting  those  liable  for  mih- 
tary  service  get  away  with  the  others. 

Wild  stories  have  begun  to  circulate  about  what  is 
bound  to  happen  to  Americans  and  other  foreigners 
when  hostilities  get  nearer  to  Brussels,  and  we  have 
had  to  spend  much  time  that  could  have  been  devoted 
to  better  things  in  calming  a  lot  of  excitable  people 
of  both  sexes.  I  finally  dug  out  the  plan  of  organisation 
of  the  foreigners  for  the  Siege  of  Peking  and  suggested 
to  the  Minister  that,  in  order  to  give  these  people 
something  to  do  and  let  them  feel  that  something  was 
being  done,  we  should  get  them  together  and  appoint 
them  all  on  committees  to  look  after  different  things. 
This  was  done  to-day.  Committees  were  appointed 
to  look  for  a  house  where  Americans  could  be  assembled 
in  case  of  hostilities  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Brussels;  to  look  after  the  food  supply;  to  attend  to 
catering;  to  round  up  Americans  and  see  that  they 
get  to  the  place  of  refuge  when  the  time  comes;  to 
look  after  destitute  Americans,  etc.  Now  they  are 
all  happy  and  working  like  beavers,  although  there  is 
little  chance  that  their  work  will  serve  any  useful 
purpose  aside  from  keeping  them  occupied.     We  got 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    25 

Mrs.  Shaler  to  open  up  the  Students'  Club,  which  had 
bec^n  closed  for  the  summer,  so  that  the  colony  can  have 
a  f>lace  to  meet  and  work  for  the  Red  Cross  and  keep 
its  collective  mind  off  the  gossip  that  is  flying  about. 

Last  night  our  cipher  telegrams  to  Washington  were 
sent  back  from  the  telegraph  office  with  word  that 
under  the  latest  instructions  from  the  Government 
they  could  not  be  forwarded.  The  Minister  and  I 
hurried  over  to  the  Foreign  Office,  where  we  found 
several  of  the  colleagues  on  the  same  errand.  It  was 
all  a  mistake,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  General  Staff 
had  issued  a  sweeping  order  to  stop  all  cipher  messages 
without  stopping  to  consider  our  special  case.  It  was 
jSxed  after  some  debate,  and  the  Minister  and  I  came 
back  to  the  shop  and  got  oflF  our  last  telegrams,  which 
were  finished  at  three  this  morning. 

I  was  back  at  my  desk  by  a  little  after  eight  and 
have  not  finished  this  day's  work,  although  it  is  after 
midnight.  I  have  averaged  from  three  to  five  hours 
sleep  since  the  trouble  began  and,  strange  to  say,  I 
thrive  on  it. 

I  have  called  several  times  to-day  at  the  French  and 
British  Legations  to  get  the  latest  news.  They  keep 
as  well  posted  as  is  possible  in  the  prevailing  confusion, 
and  are  most  generous  and  kind  in  giving  us  everything 
they  properly  can. 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  serious  engagement 
to-day  at  Liege,  which  the  Germans  are  determined 
to  reduce  before  proceeding  toward  France.  The 
report  is  that  the  attack  was  well  resisted  and  the 
Germans  driven  back  with  heavy  loss.  A  number  of 
prisoners  have  been  taken  and  were  being  brought 


26    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

into  Brussels  this  evening  along  with  the  wounded. 
In  the  course  of  the  fighting  there  was  a  sort  of  charge 
of  the  Light  Brigade;  one  squadron  of  Belgian  Lancers 
was  obliged  to  attack  six  times  its  number  of  Germans 
and  was  cut  to  pieces,  only  one  officer  escaping.  The 
morale  of  the  Belgians  is  splendid. 

This  afternoon  as  the  Minister  and  I  were  going  to 
call  on  the  British  Minister,  we  passed  the  King  and 
his  staff  headed  out  the  Rue  de  la  Loi  for  the  front. 
They  looked  like  business. 

Several  times  to-day  I  have  talked  over  the  telephone 
with  the  Embassy  in  London.  They  seem  to  be  as 
strong  on  rumours  as  we  are  here.  One  rumour  I  was 
able  to  pass  on  to  Bell  was  to  the  effect  that  the  British 
flagship  had  been  sunk  by  German  mines  with  another 
big  warship.  Another  to  the  effect  that  five  German 
ships  have  been  destroyed  by  the  French  fleet  off  the 
coast  of  Algeria,  etc.,  etc. 

The  Red  Cross  is  hard  at  work  getting  ready  to 
handle  the  wounded,  and  everybody  is  doing  some- 
thing. Nearly  everybody  with  a  big  house  has  fitted 
it  in  whole  or  in  part  as  a  hospital.  Others  are  rolling 
bandages  and  preparing  all  sorts  of  supplies. 

The  military  attaches  are  all  going  about  in  uniform 
now.  Each  Legation  has  a  flag  on  its  motor  and  the 
letters  C.  D. — ^which  are  supposed  to  stand  for  Corps 
Diplomatique,  although  nobody  knows  it.  I  have 
seized  Mrs.  Boyd's  big  car  for  my  own  use.  D.  L. 
Blount  has  put  his  car  at  the  disposal  of  the  Minister 
and  is  to  drive  it  himself. 

There  is  talk  already  of  moving  the  Court  and  the 
Government  to  Antwerp,  to  take  refuge  behind  the 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    27 

fortifications.  When  the  Germans  advance  beyond 
Liege,  the  Government  will,  of  course,  have  to  go,  and 
the  diplomatic  corps  may  follow.  It  would  be  a 
nuisance  for  us,  and  I  hope  we  may  be  able  to  avoid 
it. 

Germans  are  having  an  unhappy  time,  and  I  shall 
be  happier  when  they  are  across  the  border.  Nothing 
much  seems  to  have  happened  to  them  beyond  having 
a  few  shops  wrecked  in  Antwerp  and  one  or  two  people 
beaten  up  here.  One  case  that  came  to  my  knowledge 
was  an  outraged  man  who  had  been  roughly  handled 
and  could  not  understand  why.  All  he  had  done  was 
to  stand  in  front  of  a  cafe  where  the  little  tables  are 
on  the  sidewalk  and  remark:  "Talk  all  the  French  you 
can.  You'll  soon  have  to  talk  German."  Of  course 
there  are  a  lot  of  Belgians,  Swiss  and  Dutch  who 
rejoice  in  good  German  names  and  they  are  not  having 
a  pleasant  time.  One  restaurant  called  Chez  Fritz, 
I  saw  when  coming  along  the  Boulevard  this  evening, 
had  hung  out  a  blackboard  with  the  proud  device: 
''Fritz  est  Luxembourgeois,  mais  sa  Maison  est  Beige.'* 
He  was  taking  no  chances  on  having  the  place  smashed. 

August  6th, — ^This  morning  when  I  came  into  the 
Legation  I  found  the  Minister  of  Justice  in  top  hat 
and  frock  coat  waiting  to  see  somebody.  He  had 
received  a  report  that  a  wireless  station  had  been 
established  on  top  of  the  German  Legation  and  was 
being  run  by  the  people  who  were  left  in  the  building. 
He  came  to  ask  the  Minister's  consent  to  send  a  judge 
to  look,  see  and  draw  up  a  proces  verbal.  In  our  own 
artless  little  American  way  we  suggested  that  it  might 


28    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

be  simpler  to  go  straight  over  and  find  out  how  much 
there  was  to  the  report.  The  Minister  of  Justice  had 
a  couple  of  telegraph  linemen  with  him,  and  as  soon 
as  Mr.  Whitlock  could  get  his  hat,  we  walked  around 
the  corner  to  the  German  Legation,  rang  the  bell,  told 
the  startled  occupants  that  we  wanted  to  go  up  to 
the  garret  and — up  we  went. 

When  we  got  there  we  found  that  the  only  way  onto 
the  roof  was  by  a  long  perpendicular  ladder  leading 
to  a  trap  door.  We  all  scrambled  up  this — all  but  the 
Minister  of  Justice,  who  remained  behind  in  the  garret 
with  his  top  hat. 

We  looked  the  place  over  very  carefully,  and  the 
workmen — evidently  in  order  to  feel  that  they  were 
doing  something — cut  a  few  wires  which  probably 
resulted  in  great  inconvenience  to  perfectly  harmless 
people  farther  along  the  street.  But  there  was  no 
evidence  of  a  wireless  outfit.  One  of  the  men  started 
to  explain  to  me  how  that  proved  nothing  at  all;  that 
an  apparatus  was  now  made  that  could  be  concealed 
in  a  hat  and  brought  out  at  night  to  be  worked.  He 
stopped  in  the  middle  of  a  word,  for  suddenly  we  heard 
the  rasping  intermittent  hiss  of  a  wireless  very  near 
at  hand.  Everybody  stiffened  up  like  a  lot  of  pointers, 
and  in  a  minute  had  located  the  plant.  It  was  nothing 
but  a  rusty  girouette  on  top  of  a  chimney  being  turned 
by  the  wind  and  scratching  spitefully  at  every  turn. 
The  discovery  eased  the  strain  and  everybody  laughed. 

Then  there  was  another  sound,  and  we  all  turned 
around  to  see  a  trap  door  raised  and  the  serene,  be- 
monocled  face  of  my  friend  Cavalcanti  looked  out  on 
us  in  bewilderment.     Li   our  search  we  had    strayed 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    29 

over  onto  the  roof  of  the  BraziHan  Legation.  It 
seemed  to  cause  him  some  surprise  to  see  us  doing 
second-story  work  on  their  house.  It  was  a  funny 
situation — but  ended  in  another  laugh.  It  is  a  good 
thing  we  can  work  in  a  laugh  now  and  then. 

The  day  was  chiefly  occupied  with  perfecting  arrange- 
ments for  getting  off  our  German  refugees.  The 
Minister  wished  the  job  on  me,  and  I  with  some 
elements  of  executive  ability  myself  gave  the  worst 
part  of  it  to  Nasmith,  the  Vice-Consul-General.  Modi- 
fications became  necessary  every  few  minutes,  and 
Leval  and  I  were  running  around  like  stricken  deer 
all  day,  seeing  the  disheartening  number  of  government 
officials  who  were  concerned,  having  changes  made 
and  asking  for  additional  trains.  During  the  afternoon 
more  and  more  Germans  came  pouring  into  the  Con- 
sulate for  refuge,  until  there  were  over  two  thousand 
of  them  there,  terribly  crowded  and  unhappy.  Several 
convents  were  also  packed,  and  we  calculated  that  we 
should  have  two  or  three  thousand  to  get  out  of  the 
country.  In  the  morning  the  Legation  was  besieged 
by  numbers  of  poor  people  who  did  not  know  which 
way  to  turn  and  came  to  us  because  they  had  been 
told  that  we  would  take  care  of  them.  We  were  all 
kept  busy;  and  Leval,  smothering  his  natural  feelings, 
came  out  of  his  own  accord  and  talked  and  advised 
and  calmed  the  frightened  people  in  their  own  language. 
None  of  us  would  have  asked  him  to  do  it,  but  he  was 
fine  enough  to  want  to  help  and  to  do  it  without  any 
fuss. 

A  crowd  of  curious  people  gathered  outside  the 
Legation  to  watch  the  callers,  and  now  and  then  they 


30    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

boo-ed  a  German.  I  looked  out  of  the  window  in  time 
to  see  somebody  in  the  crowd  strike  at  a  poor  little 
worm  of  a  man  who  had  just  gone  out  the  door.  He 
was  excited  and  foolish  enough  to  reach  toward  his 
hip  pocket  as  though  for  a  revolver.  In  an  instant 
the  crowd  fell  on  him;  and  although  Gustave,  the 
messenger,  and  I  rushed  out  we  were  just  in  time  to 
pull  him  inside  and  slam  the  door  before  they  had 
a  chance  to  polish  him  off.  Gustave  nearly  had  his 
clothes  torn  off  in  the  scrimmage,  but  stuck  to  his  job. 
An  inspired  idiot  of  an  American  tourist  who  was 
inside  tried  to  get  the  door  open  and  address  the  crowd 
in  good  American,  and  I  had  to  handle  him  most 
undiplomatically  to  keep  him  from  getting  us  all  into 
trouble.  The  crowed  thumped  on  the  door  a  little  in 
imitation  of  a  mob  scene,  and  the  Garde  Civique  had 
to  be  summoned  on  the  run  from  the  German  Legation 
to  drive  them  back  and  establish  some  semblance  of 
order.  Then  de  Leval  and  I  went  out  and  talked  to  the 
crowd — that  is  to  say,  we  went  out  and  he  talked  to 
the  crowd.  He  told  them  very  reasonably  that  they 
were  doing  harm  to  Belgium,  as  actions  of  this  sort 
might  bring  reprisals  which  would  cost  the  country 
dear,  and  that  they  must  control  their  feelings.  He 
sounded  the  right  note  so  successfully  that  the  crowd 
broke  up  with  a  cheer. 

Orders  have  been  issued  to  permit  us  free  use  of  the 
telephone  and  telegraph,  although  they  have  been  cut 
for  everybody  else.  Yesterday  afternoon  I  talked  with 
the  Consulates  at  Ghent  and  Antwerp.  They  were 
both  having  their  troubles  with  Germans  who  wanted 
to  get  out  of  the  country.    I  told  them  to  send  every- 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    31 

body  up  here  and  let  them  report  at  their  own  con- 
sulate, where  they  will  be  looked  after. 

The  Government  is  taking  no  chances  of  having 
trouble  because  of  the  doings  of  francs-tireurs.  The 
Minister  of  the  Interior  sent  out,  on  the  4th,  a  circular 
to  every  one  of  the  2,700  communes  in  the  country 
to  be  posted  everywhere.  The  circular  points  out  in 
simple  and  emphatic  terms  the  duty  of  civilians  to 
refrain  from  hostile  acts  and  makes  it  clear  that 
civilians  might  be  executed  for  such  acts.  Aside  from 
this,  every  newspaper  in  the  country  has  printed  the 
following  notice  signed  by  the  Minister  of  the  La- 
terior: 


TO  CIVILLANS 

The  Minister  of  the  Interior  advises  civilians,  in  case  the  enemy 
should  show  himself  in  their  district: 

Not  to  fight; 

To  utter  no  insulting  or  threatening  words; 

To  remain  within  their  houses  and  close  the  windows,  so  that 
it  will  be  impossible  to  allege  that  there  has  been  any  provocation; 

To  evacuate  any  houses  or  small  village  which  may  be  occupied 
by  soldiers  in  order  to  defend  themselves,  so  that  it  cannot  be 
alleged  that  civilians  have  fired; 

An  act  of  violence  committed  by  a  single  civilian  would  be 
a  crime  for  which  the  law  provides  arrest  and  punishment.  It 
is  all  the  more  reprehensible  in  that  it  might  serve  as  a  pretext 
for  measures  of  repression  resulting  in  bloodshed  and  pillage  or 
the  massacre  of  the  innocent  population  with  women  and  children. 

In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  we  got  our  telegrams 
telling  of  the  appropriation  by  Congress  of  two  and 
a  half  millions  for  the  relief  of  Americans  in  Europe, 


S2    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

and  the  despatch  of  the  Tennessee  with  the  money  on 
board.  Now  all  hands  want  some  of  the  money  and 
a  cabin  on  the  Tennessee  to  go  home  in. 

,  the  Wheat  King,  came  into  the  Legation  this 

morning  and  was  very  grateful  because  we  contrived 
to  cash  out  of  our  own  pockets  a  twenty-dollar  express 
check  for  him.  He  was  flat  broke  with  his  pocket 
bulging  with  checks  and  was  living  in  a  "pension  at 
six  francs  a  day.  There  is  going  to  be  a  lot  of  dis- 
comfort and  sufifering  unless  some  money  is  made 
available  pretty  soon.  The  worst  of  it  is  that  this  is 
the  height  of  the  tourist  season  and  Europe  is  full  of 
school-teachers  and  other  people  who  came  over  for 
short  trips  with  meager  resources  carefully  calculated 
to  get  them  through  their  traveling  and  home  again 
by  a  certain  date.  If  they  are  kept  long  they  are  going 
to  be  in  a  bad  way.  One  of  our  American  colony  here, 
Heineman,  had  a  goodly  store  of  currency  and  had 
placed  it  at  the  disposal  of  the  Legation,  to  be  used 
in  cashing  at  face  value  travelers'  checks  and  other 
similar  paper  which  bankers  will  not  touch  now  with 
a  pair  of  tongs.  Shaler  has  taken  charge  of  that  end 
of  the  business  and  has  all  the  customers  he  can  handle. 
Heineman  will  have  to  bide  his  time  to  get  any  money 
back  on  all  his  collection  of  paper,  and  his  contribu- 
tion has  meant  a  lot  to  people  who  will  never  know 
who  helped  them. 

There  was  a  meeting  of  the  diplomatic  corps  last 
night  to  discuss  the  question  of  moving  with  the  Court 
to  Antwerp  in  certain  eventualities.  It  is  not  expected 
that  the  Government  will  move  unless  and  until  the 
Germans    get    through    Liege    and    close    enough    to 


rho'oijriiph  1)1/  I'titleniool  S:  i'lulcnrood 

Her  Majesty,  Elisabeth,  Queen  of  the  Belgians 


Mr.  Brand  Wliitlock,  Ainericaii  Mini-sterto  Belgium 


♦»* 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    33 

threaten  Lou  vain,  which  is  only  a  few  miles  out  of 
Brussels.  There  was  no  unanimous  decision  on  the 
subject,  but  if  the  Court  goes,  the  Minister  and  I  will 
probably  take  turns  going  up,  so  as  to  keep  in  com- 
munication with  the  Government.  There  is  not  much 
we  can  accomplish  there,  and  we  have  so  much  to  do 
here  that  it  will  be  hard  for  either  of  us  to  get  away. 
It  appeals  to  some  of  the  colleagues  to  take  refuge 
with  a  Court  in  distress,  but  I  can  see  little  attraction 
in  the  idea  of  settling  down  inside  the  line  of  forts  and 
waiting  for  them  to  be  pounded  with  heavy  artillery. 

Liege  seems  to  be  holding  out  still.  The  Belgians 
have  astonished  everybody,  themselves  included.  It 
was  generally  believed  even  here  that  the  most  they 
could  do  was  to  make  a  futile  resistance  and  get 
slaughtered  in  a  foolhardy  attempt  to  defend  their 
territory  against  invasion.  They  have,  however,  held 
off  a  powerful  German  attack  for  three  or  four  days. 
It  is  altogether  marvelous.  All  papers  have  the  head 
lines:    ^^Les  forts  tiennent  tou jours." 

In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  we  arranged  definitely 
that  at  three  o'clock  this  morning  there  should  be 
ample  train  accommodations  ready  at  the  Gare  du 
Nord  to  get  our  Germans  out  of  the  country.  Nasmith 
and  I  are  to  go  down  and  observe  the  entire  proceed- 
ings, so  that  we  can  give  an  authoritative  report  after- 
ward. 

There  is  a  German-American  girl  married  to  a 
German  who  lives  across  the  street  from  me.  I  sent 
her  word  to-day  that  she  and  her  husband  and  little 
boy  had  better  get  away  while  there  was  a  way  open. 
Last  evening  while  we  were  at  dinner  at  the  Legation 


S4    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

the  three  of  them  arrived  in  a  panic.  They  had  heard 
that  there  was  a  mob  of  ten  thousand  people  about 
the  German  Consulate  about  to  break  in  and  kill  every 
German  in  the  place.  Of  course  they  could  not  be 
persuaded  to  go  near  the  Consulate  or  any  of  the  other 
refuges.  They  wanted  to  settle  down  and  stay  at  the 
Legation.  As  the  Minister  was  on  his  way  out  to  the 
meeting  of  the  corps,  the  woman  waylaid  him,  had  got 
down  on  her  knees  and  kissed  his  hand  and  groveled 
and  had  hysterics.  He  called  for  me  and  we  got  them 
quieted  down.  I  finally  agreed  to  go  down  to  the 
Consulate  and  take  a  look  so  as  to  reassure  them. 

When  I  got  there  I  found  that  the  streets  had  been 
barred  off  by  the  military  for  two  blocks  in  every 
direction,  and  that  there  was  only  a  small  crowd 
gathered  to  see  what  might  happen.  About  as  hostile 
as  a  lot  of  children.  I  got  through  the  line  of  troops 
and  in  front  of  the  Consulate  found  several  hundreds 
of  the  refugees  who  had  been  brought  out  to  be 
marched  to  the  Cirque  Royale,  where  they  could  be 
more  comfortably  lodged  until  it  was  time  to  start 
for  the  train.  They  were  surrounded  by  placid  Gardes 
Civiques  and  were  all  frightened  to  death.  They  had 
had  nothing  to  do  for  days  but  talk  over  the  terrible 
fate  that  awaited  them  if  the  bloodthirsty  population 
of  Brussels  ever  got  at  them;  the  stories  had  grown 
so  that  the  crowd  had  hypnotised  itself  and  was  ready 
to  credit  any  yarn.  The  authorities  showed  the  greatest 
consideration  they  could  under  their  orders.  They 
got  the  crowd  started  and  soon  had  them  stowed  away 
inside  the  Cirque  Royale,  an  indoor  circus  near  the 
Consulate.     Once  they  got  inside,  a  lot  of  them  gave 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    35 

way  to  their  feelings  and  began  to  weep  and  wail  in 
a  way  that  bade  fair  to  set  off  the  entire  crowd.  One 
of  the  officers  came  out  to  where  I  was  and  begged  me 
to  come  in  and  try  my  hand  at  quieting  them.  I 
climbed  up  on  a  trunk  and  delivered  an  eloquent 
address  to  the  effect  that  nobody  had  any  designs  on 
them;  that  the  whole  interest  of  the  Belgian  Govern- 
ment lay  in  getting  them  safely  across  the  frontier; 
called  their  attention  to  the  way  the  Garde  Civique 
was  working  to  make  them  comfortable,  and  to  reassure 
them,  promised  that  I  would  go  with  them  to  the 
station,  put  them  on  their  trains,  and  see  them  safely 
off  for  the  frontier.  That  particular  crowd  cheered  up 
somewhat,  but  I  could  not  get  near  enough  to  be  heard 
by  the  entire  outfit  at  one  time,  so  one  of  the  officers 
dragged  me  around  from  one  part  of  the  building  to 
another  until  I  had  harangued  the  entire  crowd  on 
the  instalment  plan.  They  all  knew  that  we  were 
charged  with  their  interests,  and  there  was  nearly 
a  riot  when  I  wanted  to  leave.  They  expected  me  to 
stay  right  there  until  they  were  taken  away. 

I  came  back  to  the  Legation  and  told  my  people 
that  the  way  was  clear  and  that  they  had  nothing  to 
worry  about.  Mrs.  Whitlock  and  Miss  Larner  had 
taken  the  family  in  hand,  were  petting  the  baby  boy, 
and  had  them  all  cheered  up  to  a  sensible  state  of 
mind.  I  got  them  into  the  motor  and  whisked  them 
down  to  the  lines  that  were  drawn  about  the  block. 
Here  we  were  stopped  and,  sooner  than  undertake 
a  joint  debate  with  the  sentry,  I  was  for  descending 
and  going  the  rest  of  the  way  on  foot.  Wlien  a  few 
of  the  idly  curious  gathered  about  the  car,  the  woman 


36    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

nearly  had  a  fit  and  scrambled  back  into  the  car 
almost  in  spasms.  Of  course  the  scene  drew  some 
more  people  and  we  soon  had  a  considerable  crowd. 
I  gathered  up  the  boy — who  was  a  beauty  and  not 
at  all  afraid — and  took  him  out  of  the  car.  There  was 
in  the  front  rank  an  enormous  Belgian  with  a  fiercely 
bristling  beard.  He  looked  like  a  sane  sort,  so  I  said 
to  him:  ''Expliquez  a  ces  gens  que  vous  rietes  pas  des 
ogres  pour  croquer  les  enfantsJ^  He  growled  out  af- 
fably: ''Mais  non,  on  ne  mange  pas  les  enfants,  ni 
leurs  meres''  and  gathered  up  the  baby  and  passed 
him  about  for  the  others  to  look  at.  My  passengers 
then  decided  that  they  were  not  in  such  mortal  danger 
and  consented  to  get  out.  An  ofl&cer  I  knew  came 
along  and  offered  to  escort  them  inside.  On  the  way 
in  I  ran  into  Madame  Carton  de  Wiart,  wife  of  the 
Minister  of  Justice,  who  was  there  to  do  what  she  could 
to  make  things  run  smoothly.  She  is  rabid  about  the 
Germans,  but  is  not  for  taking  it  out  on  these  helpless 
people.  And  that  seems  to  be  the  spirit  of  everybody, 
although  it  would  be  quite  understandable  if  they 
showed  these  people  some  of  their  resentment.  The 
Gardes  were  bestirring  themselves  to  look  after  their 
charges.  Some  of  them  had  contributed  their  pocket 
money  and  had  bought  chocolate  and  milk  for  the 
children  and  mineral  waters  and  other  odds  and  ends 
for  those  that  needed  them.  And  some  of  them  are 
not  very  sure  as  to  how  long  they  will  have  pocket 
money  for  themselves.  Aside  from  the  fright  and  the 
heat  and  the  noise  of  that  crowd  in  the  Cirque,  it  was 
all  pretty  depressing.  During  the  night  one  old  man 
died — ^probably  from  fright  and  shock — ^and  a  child 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    37 

was  born.  It  was  altogether  a  night  of  horror  that 
could  perfectly  well  have  been  avoided  if  people  had 
only  been  able  to  keep  calm  and  stay  at  home  mitil 
time  for  the  train  to  leave. 

Having  settled  my  charges  and  taken  a  look  round, 
I  went  back  to  the  Legation  and  got  off  some  telegrams 
and  talked  with  Bell  over  the  telephone.  He  had 
a  lot  of  news  that  we  had  not  received  and  many 
errands  to  be  done  for  people  who  had  friends  and 
relatives  here. 

A  little  after  midnight  friend  Nasmith  came  along 
and  we  set  out  together  for  our  rounds.  We  first  took 
a  look  at  one  or  two  places  and  then  went  to  my 
diggings  for  a  sandwich  and  such  rest  as  we  could  get 
before  time  to  start  on  our  round-up.  Soon  after 
midnight,  Fortescue  came  rolling  up  in  a  cab  looking 
for  a  place  to  lay  his  head.  He  had  just  come  in  from 
Liege,  where  he  had  had  a  close  view  of  yesterday 
morning's  heavy  fighting.  He  said  the  Germans  were 
pouring  men  in  between  the  forts  in  solid  formation, 
and  that  these  sheep  were  being  mown  down  by  the 
Belgians  heavily  intrenched  between  the  forts.  The 
Germans  are  apparently  determined  to  get  some  of 
their  men  through  between  the  forts  and  are  willing 
to  pay  the  price,  whatever  it  may  be.  To-day  we 
hear  that  the  Germans  have  asked  for  an  armistice 
of  twenty-four  hours  to  bury  their  dead. 

After  we  had  hung  upon  his  words  as  long  as  he 
could  keep  going,  Nasmith  and  I  got  under  way  to 
look  after  our  exodus.  The  Garde  was  keeping  order 
at  all  places  where  there  were  refugees,  and  I  was  easy 
in  my  mind  about  that;  my  only  worry  was  as  to  what 


38    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

might  happen  when  we  got  our  people  out  into  the 
streets.  Promptly  at  three  o'clock  we  began  to  march 
them  out  of  the  Cirque.  The  hour  was  carefully  chosen 
as  the  one  when  there  were  the  least  possible  people  in 
the  streets;  the  evening  crowds  would  have  gone  home 
and  the  early  market  crowd  would  hardly  have  arrived. 
A  heavy  guard  was  thrown  around  the  people  as  they 
came  out  of  the  building  and  they  were  marched 
quickly  and  quietly  down  back  streets  to  the  Gare  du 
Nord.  I  never  saw  such  a  body  of  people  handled  so 
quickly  and  yet  without  confusion.  In  the  station 
four  trains  were  drawn  up  side  by  side;  as  the  stream 
of  people  began  pouring  into  the  station,  it  was  directed 
to  the  first  platform  and  the  train  was  filled  in  a  few 
minutes.  At  just  the  right  moment  the  stream  was 
deflected  to  the  next  platform,  and  so  on  until  all  four 
trains  were  filled.  After  starting  the  crowd  into  the 
station  and  seeing  that  there  was  going  to  be  no  trouble, 
I  set  off  with  an  officer  of  the  Garde  Civique  to  see 
about  other  parties  coming  from  some  of  the  convents. 
They  had  not  waited  for  us,  but  were  already  moving, 
so  that  when  we  got  back  to  the  station  they  tacked 
onto  the  end  of  the  first  party  and  kept  the  stream 
flowing. 

As  fast  as  the  trains  were  filled,  the  signal  was  given 
and  they  pulled  out  silently.  I  stood  behind  some  of 
the  Garde  Civique  and  watched  the  crowd  pour  in. 
The  Gardes  did  not  know  who  I  was  aside  from  the 
fact  that  my  presence  seemed  to  be  countenanced  by 
their  officers,  and  so  I  overheard  what  they  had  to 
say.  They  were  a  decent  lot  and  kept  saying:  Mais 
c^est    malheureux    tout   de    meme!      Regardez    done    ces 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    39 

pauvres  gens.  Ce  nest  pas  de  leur faute,  and  a  lot  more 
of  that  sort  of  thing. 

It  takes  a  pretty  fine  spirit  to  be  able  to  treat  the 
enemy  that  way.  A  lot  of  people  in  the  passing  crowd 
spotted  me  and  stopped  to  say  good-bye  or  called  out 
as  they  went  by.  It  was  pathetic  to  see  how  grateful 
they  were  for  the  least  kind  word.  I  never  saw  such 
a  pitiful  crowd  in  my  hfe  and  hope  I  never  may 
again.  They  hurried  along,  looking  furtively  to  right 
and  left  with  the  look  of  a  rat  that  is  in  fear  of  his  life. 
I  have  seldom  pitied  people  more,  for  that  sort  of  fear 
must  be  the  most  frightful  there  is — simple  fear  of 
physical  violence. 

It  was  remarkable  to  see  the  different  classes  of 
people  who  were  there.  The  Manager  of  a  bank 
of  Brussels  had  abandoned  everything  he  owned  and 
joined  the  crowd.  There  were  several  financiers  of 
standing  who  felt  obliged  to  flee  with  their  families. 
And  there  were  lots  of  servants  who  had  lived  here  for 
years  and  were  really  Belgian  in  everything  but  birth. 
Just  before  the  last  train  left  some  closed  wagons  came 
from  the  prisons  to  bring  a  lot  of  Germans  and  wish 
them  back  on  their  own  country  in  this  way. 

And  there  was  not  an  incident.  Here  and  there 
a  prowling  cab  driver  hooted,  but  there  was  not  a  stone 
thrown  or  any  other  violence.  Before  the  last  of  the 
procession  got  into  the  station,  it  was  nearly  six 
o'clock  and  broad  daylight.  We  moved  up  the  plat- 
form with  Major  Dandoy  and  watched  the  last  train 
leave.  The  Abbe  Upmans  was  there  through  it  all, 
working  like  a  trump,  bucking  the  people  up;  he 
did  not  stop  until  the  last  train  pulled  out  into  the 


40    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

fresh  summer  morning,  and  then  he  stayed  aboard 
after  the  train  was  in  motion  to  shake  hands  with 
a  Kttle  handful  of  downhearted  people.  He  shook 
himself  and  heaved  a  sigh  of  relief — remarking  quietly 
that  his  duty  had  required  him  to  go  through  all  this 
and  look  after  his  charges  while  they  were  in  trouble — 
but  that  now  he  might  have  the  satisfaction  of  being 
a  Belgian.  I  too  heaved  a  sigh  of  relief,  but  It  was 
because  the  mob  was  safely  off  and  I  need  not  worry 
about  street  fighting. 

Dandoy  had  not  had  any  sleep  for  nearly  sixty 
hours,  and  though  Nasmith  and  I  were  pretty  tired 
ourselves,  we  thought  the  least  we  could  do  was  to 
take  him  home.  His  family  is  in  Liege  and  he  has  not 
been  able  to  get  any  word  from  them.  I  offered  to 
try  a  telephone  message  to  the  Consul  at  Liege,  but 
have  had  no  luck  with  it.  None  the  less,  Dandoy  has 
been  most  grateful. 

Before  we  left  the  station  they  began  bringing  in 
the  wounded  and  prisoners.  Most  of  the  wounded 
I  saw  were  not  badly  hurt,  and  were  plucky  and  con- 
fident. Most  of  them  were  supported  or  led  by  Boy 
Scouts  who  have  taken  off  the  military  the  full  burden 
of  messenger  work  and  a  lot  of  other  jobs.  They  are 
being  of  real  value,  as  they  can  do  lots  of  useful  things 
and  thereby  release  grown  men  for  service  at  the  front. 

When  I  got  back  to  the  Rue  St.  Boniface — after 
stopping  at  the  Legation  to  see  what  had  come  in — ■ 
I  had  just  time  to  throw  myself  down  for  a  twenty- 
minute  rest  before  the  slave  came  in  with  my  coffee. 
And  then  with  no  time  for  a  tub,  I  had  to  hurry  back 
and  get  into  the  harness.    And  none  too  soon,  for  the 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    41 

work  began  to  pour  in  and  I  have  been  kept  on  the 
jump  all  day.  If  all  goes  well  I  hope  to  get  to  bed 
some  time  after  midnight  to-night.  That  means  about 
three  hours  sleep  and  hard  going  during  the  past 
forty-eight  hours. 

This  morning  the  various  American  committees 
came  to  the  Legation  to  report  on  the  measures  they 
have  taken  for  the  protection  of  the  colony  in  case  of 
danger.  I  have  been  handed  the  pleasant  task  of 
Chief  of  Staff,  with  full  authority  to  settle  all  matters 
affecting  the  protection  of  Americans  in  case  hostilities 
reach  this  part  of  the  coimtry,  as  seems  may  well  be 
the  case  before  many  days.  In  harmony  with  my  well- 
known  policy  of  passing  the  buck — more  politely  known 
as  executive  ability — ^I  impressed  Major  Boyer  of  the 
Army,  who  is  here  for  the  time.  He  has  set  up  an 
office  at  the  headquarters  of  the  committee  and  makes 
it  his  business  to  keep  me  fully  posted  as  to  what  is 
going  on  there.  First  I  started  him  out  to  look  at 
the  various  houses  that  have  been  under  discussion 
by  the  committee,  so  that  he  could  decide  as  to  their 
relative  accessibility  and  general  strategic  advantages. 
He  did  this  and  made  all  sorts  of  arrangements  tending 
to  co-ordinate  the  work  of  the  various  sub-committees 
along  the  lines  of  the  plan  we  drew  up.  It  will  be 
a  great  thing  to  have  somebody  who  will  act  as  buffer 
for  all  the  detail  and  relieve  me  of  just  that  much. 

Germans  who  for  one  reason  or  another  had  not  got 
away  on  our  train  kept  turning  up  all  day,  and  we 
kept  sending  them  along  to  the  Consulate.  Late  this 
afternoon  the  hard-working  Nasmith  came  in  to  say 
that  there  were  already  seven  himdred  of  them  gathered 


42    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

there.  We  shall  have  to  have  another  special  train 
for  day  after  to-morrow  morning,  and  hope  to  get  most 
of  the  remaining  Germans  out  of  harm's  way  by  that 
time. 

The  Belgians  continue  to  be  a  surprise.  At  last 
accounts  they  were  still  holding  the  forts  at  Liege. 
The  French  appear  to  have  established  themselves 
along  the  Meuse  and  to  be  ready  for  the  attack  when 
it  comes.  Where  the  British  troops  are,  nobody  here 
seems  to  know — and,  strange  to  say,  they  are  not 
advertising  their  whereabouts.  There  are  plenty  of 
people  who  have  had  confidential  tips  from  their  cook's 
brother,  who  lives  in  the  country  and  has  seen  them 
with  his  own  eyes.  According  to  such  stories  they  are 
all  landed  at  Ostend  and  are  being  hurried  across  the 
country  through  Malines.  Another  story  is  that  they 
have  been  shipped  through  to  Liege  in  closed  freight 
cars  to  outwit  German  spies,  and  that  they  are  now  in 
the  thick  of  it.  According  to  still  another  of  these 
confidential  fellows,  they  have  been  shipped  through 
Brussels  itself  in  the  night  and  we  were  unaware  when 
they  passed  under  our  very  windows.  You  can  choose 
any  story  you  like  and  get  an  audience  with  it  these  days. 

To-day's  mouth-to-mouth  news  is  that  the  French 
have  fought  a  big  battle  near  St.  Hubert  and  repulsed 
the  Germans  with  heavy  losses.  This  has  about  as 
much  confirmation  as  the  reports  as  to  the  whereabouts 
of  the  British  army. 

To-day  trains  have  been  coming  in  all  day  with 
wounded  from  Liege,  and  the  lot — ^Belgian  and  Ger- 
man— are  being  cared  for  by  the  Red  Cross.  The 
Palace  has  been  turned  into  a  hospital,  and  the  Queen 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    43 

has  taken  over  the  supervision  of  it.  Nearly  every  big 
hotel  in  town  has  turned*  its  dining-room  into  a  ward, 
and  guests  are  required  to  have  their  meals  in  their 
rooms.  Some  of  the  big  department  stores  have  come 
up  finely  in  outfitting  hospitals  and  workrooms,  clear- 
ing out  their  stocks,  and  letting  profits  go  hang  for 
the  time  being.  The  International  Harvester  Company 
cleared  its  oflaces  here  and  installed  twenty-five 
beds — ^informing  the  Red  Cross  that  it  would  take  care 
of  the  running  expenses  as  long  as  the  war  lasts.  The 
hospital  facilities  have  grown  far  faster  than  the 
wounded  have  come  in,  and  there  is  an  element  of 
humour  in  the  rush  of  eager  women  who  go  to  the 
station  and  almost  fight  for  the  wounded  as  they  are 
brought  off  the  trains. 

I  impressed  the  services  of  several  people  to  help 
out  to-day,  but  the  most  valuable  are  two  crack 
stenographers  who  have  been  turned  over  to  us  by 
business  firms  here.  By  dint  of  labouring  with  them 
all  morning  and  afternoon  and  seeing  as  few  people  as 
possible,  I  have  managed  to  clean  up  my  desk,  so  that 
I  can  go  to  bed  with  a  clear  conscience  to-night  when 
I  have  got,  through  my  call  to  London. 

Brussels,  August  8,  19H. — ^To-day  our  new  organisa- 
tion is  working  like  clockwork.  In  Cruger's  formerly 
calm  chancery  there  are  five  typewriters  pounding 
away,  and  at  the  committee  rooms  there  are  swarms 
of  people  working  to  take  care  of  odds  and  ends. 
Monsieur  de  Leval  has  a  table  at  one  side  of  my 
room,  and  the  committee  relieves  us  of  the  people 
who  want  information  and  those  who  want  to  talk. 


44    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Sunday,  August  9th. — ^I  got  this  far  when  the  roof 
fell  in  last  night.  During  the  afternoon  yesterday  I 
got  out  to  attend  to  a  few  odds  and  ends  of  errands — 
and,  as  always  happens  when  I  go  out,  things  began 
to  happen.  I  came  back  to  find  the  Minister  and 
de  Leval  wTCstling  with  a  big  one. 

A  curious  telegram  had  come  from  The  Hague, 
quoting  the  text  of  a  message  which  the  German 
Government  desired  us  to  present  to  the  Belgian 
Government.  Here  it  is  in  translation,  a  truly  German 
message : 

The  fortress  of  Liege  has  been  taken  by  assault  after  a  brave 
defense.  The  German  Government  most  deeply  regret  that 
bloody  encounters  should  have  resulted  from  the  attitude  of  the 
Belgian  Government  toward  Germany.  Germany  is  not  coming 
as  an  enemy  into  Belgium;  it  is  only  through  the  force  of  circum- 
stances that  she  has  had,  owing  to  the  military  measures  of 
France,  to  take  the  grave  decision  of  entering  Belgium  and 
occupying  Liege  as  a  base  for  her  further  military  operations. 
Now  that  the  Belgian  army  has  upheld  the  honour  of  its  arms 
by  its  heroic  resistance  to  a  very  superior  force,  the  German 
Government  beg  the  King  of  the  Belgians  and  the  Belgian  Govern- 
ment to  spare  Belgium  further  horrors  of  war.  The  German 
Government  are  ready  for  any  compact  with  Belgium  which  can 
be  reconciled  with  their  conflicts  with  France.  Oermany  once 
more  gives  her  solemn  assurance  that  it  is  not  her  intention  to 
appropriate  Belgian  territory  to  herself  and  that  such  an  intention 
is  far  from  her  thoughts.  Germany  is  still  ready  to  evacuate 
Belgium  as  soon  as  the  state  of  war  will  allow  her  to  do  so. 

Of  course  we  were  loath  to  present  anything  of  the 
sort,  but  the  thing  had  to  be  handled  carefully.  After 
some  pow-wowing  I  went  over  to  the  Foreign  Office 
with  the  message  and  saw  Baron  van  der  Elst.  I  told 
him  seriously  that  we  had  received  a  very  remarkable 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    45 

telegram  which  purported  to  contain  a  message  from 
the  German  Government;  that  it  bore  no  marks  of 
authenticity,  and  that  we  w^ere  not  sure  as  to  its  source; 
but  that  we  felt  that  we  should  be  lacking  in  frankness 
if  we  did  not  show  him  what  we  had  received.  He 
seized  the  message  and  read  it  through,  his  amazement 
and  anger  growing  with  each  line.  When  he  had 
finished,  he  gasped  for  a  minute  or  two  and  then  led 
me  into  the  next  room  to  the  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  M.  Davignon,  to  whom  he  translated  the 
telegram  aloud.  When  they  had  finished  discussing 
the  message  and  I  had  a  pretty  clear  idea  as  to  the 
Belgian  attitude  toward  the  proposal — not  that  I  had 
had  any  real  doubt — I  asked  him:  "If  the  American 
Minister  had  delivered  this  message  what  would  have 
been  its  reception?"  Without  an  instant's  hesitation, 
M.  Davignon  replied:  "We  should  have  resented  his 
action  and  should  have  declined  to  receive  the  com- 
munication." 

That  was  all  I  wanted  to  know  and  I  was  ready  to 
go  back  to  the  Legation. 

I  took  Baron  van  der  Elst  home  In  the  car  and  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  him  explain  who  he  was  to 
several  Gardes  Civiques,  who  held  up  the  car  from  time 
to  time.  He  was  very  good-natured  about  it,  and 
only  resented  the  interruptions  to  w^hat  he  was  trying 
to  say.  His  son  is  in  the  army  and  he  has  no  news  of 
him.  As  he  got  out  of  the  car  he  remarked  that  if  it 
were  not  so  horrible,  the  mere  interest  of  events  would 
be  enough  to  make  these  days  wonderful. 

When  I  got  back  to  the  Legation  and  reported  the 
result  of  my  visit,  we  went  to  work  and  framed  a  tele- 


46    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

gram  to  Washington,  giving  the  text  of  the  German 
message,  explaining  that  we  had  nothing  to  prove  its 
authenticity  and  adding  that  we  had  reason  to  beHeve 
that  the  Belgian  Government  would  not  accept  it.  The 
same  message  was  sent  to  The  Hague.  This  pleasant 
exercise  with  the  code  kept  us  going  until  four  in  the 
morning.  Eugene,  the  wonder  chauffeur,  had  no  orders, 
but  curled  up  on  the  front  seat  of  his  car  and  waited 
to  take  me  home.  He  was  also  on  hand  when  I  got 
up  a  couple  of  hours  later,  to  take  me  back  to  the 
Legation.     Chauffeurs  like  that  are  worth  having. 

When  I  came  in  this  morning  the  place  was  packed 
with  Germans.  Some  cheerful  idiot  had  inserted  a 
notice  in  the  papers  that  all  Germans  were  to  be  run 
out  of  the  country,  and  that  they  should  immediately 
apply  to  the  American  Legation.  As  the  flood  poured 
in,  Leval  got  on  the  telephone  to  the  Stirete  Publique 
and  found  out  the  true  facts.  Then  we  posted  a 
notice  in  the  hall.  But  that  was  not  enough.  As  is 
always  the  case  with  humans,  they  all  knew  better 
than  to  pay  any  attention  to  what  the  notice  said  and 
each  one  of  the  hundred  or  more  callers  had  some 
reason  to  insist  on  talking  it  over  with  somebody. 
When  they  once  got  hold  of  one  of  us,  it  was  next  to 
impossible  to  get  away  without  listening  to  the  whole 
story  of  their  lives.  All  they  had  to  do  was  to  go  down 
to  the  German  Consulate-General,  where  we  had  people 
waiting  to  tell  them  all  there  was  to  know.  It  was  hard 
to  make  them  realise  that  by  taking  up  all  our  time  in 
this  way,  they  were  preventing  us  from  doing  things 
that  were  really  necessary  to  serve  them  in  more 
important  matters.    I  said  as  much  to  several  of  them. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    47 

who  were  unusually  long-winded,  but  every  last  one 
replied  that  HIS  case  was  different  and  that  he  must 
be  heard  out  at  length. 

Our  refugee  train  left  this  morning  and  took  eight 
hundred  more  of  the  poor  people.  Where  they  all 
turn  up  from,  I  don't  know,  but  each  day  brings  us 
a  fresh  and  unexpected  batch.  Many  of  the  cases 
are  very  sad,  but  if  we  stop  to  give  sympathy  in  every 
deserving  case,  we  should  never  get  anything  practical 
done  for  them. 

To-day's  budget  of  news  is  that  the  French  have 
got  to  Mulhouse  and  have  inflicted  a  decisive  defeat 
upon  the  Germans.  According  to  reports,  the  Alsatians 
went  mad  when  the  French  troops  crossed  the  frontier 
for  the  first  time  in  forty-four  years.  They  tore  up 
and  burned  the  frontier  posts  and  generally  gave  way 
to  transports  of  joy.  I  would  have  given  a  lot  to  see 
the  crowds  in  Paris. 

A  letter  came  yesterday  from  Omer,  the  legation 
footman,  who  is  at  Tirlemont  with  the  artillery.  He 
said  he  had  not  yet  been  hit,  although  he  had  heard 
the  bullets  uncomfortably  near.  He  wound  up  by 
saying  that  he  had  beaucoup  de  courage — and  I  beheve 
him. 

It  seems  that  some  of  the  German  troops  did  not 
know  what  they  were  attacking  and  thought  they 
were  in  France.  When  brought  here  as  prisoners, 
some  of  them  expressed  surprise  to  find  that  Paris 
was  so  small.  They  seem  to  have  thought  that  they 
were  in  France  and  the  goal  not  far  away. 

The  King  to-day  received  through  other  channels 
the  message  from  the  Emperor  of  Germany  in  regard 


48    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

to  peace,  which  we  decHned  to  transmit.  I  have  not 
seen  its  text,  but  hear  it  is  practically  identical  with 
the  message  sent  us,  asking  the  King  to  name  his 
conditions  for  the  evacuation  of  Liege  and  the  abandon- 
ment of  his  allies,  so  that  Germany  may  be  entirely 
free  of  Belgian  opposition  in  her  further  operations 
against  France.  I  have  heard  among  Belgians  only 
the  most  indignant  comments  on  the  proposal  and 
look  forward  with  interest  to  seeing  the  answer  of  the 
King,  which  should  appear  to-morrow.* 

The  town  is  most  warlike  in  appearance.  There 
is  hardly  a  house  in  the  town  that  does  not  display 
a  large  Belgian  flag.  It  looks  as  though  it  were  be- 
decked for  a  fiesta.  Here  and  there  are  French  and 
British  flags,  but  practically  no  others.  Every  motor 
in  town  flies  a  flag  or  flags  at  the  bow.  We  fly  our 
own,  but  none  the  less,  the  sentries,  who  are  stationed 
at  all  the  corners  dividing  the  chief  quarters  of  the 
town  and  before  all  the  Ministries  and  other  public 
buildings,  stop  us  and  demand  the  papers  of  the 
chauffeur  and  each  passenger  in  the  car.  We  have 
passports  and  all  sorts  of  other  papers,  but  that  was 
not  enough,  and  we  finally  had  to  be  furnished  by 


*  The  Belgian  reply,  which  was  sent  on  August  12th  through 
the  Netherlands  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  is  as  follows : 

The  proposal  made  to  us  by  the  German  Government  repeats 
the  proposal  which  was  formulated  in  the  ultimatum  of  August 
2nd.  Faithful  to  her  international  obhgations,  Belgium  can  only 
reiterate  her  reply  to  that  ultimatum,  the  more  so  as  since  August 
3rd,  her  neutrality  has  been  violated,  a  distressing  war  has  been 
waged  on  her  territory,  and  the  guarantors  of  her  neutrality  have 
responded  loyally  and  without  delay  to  her  appeal. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    49 

the  Ministry  for  Foreign  Affairs  with  a  special  laisser- 
^passer.  This  afternoon  I  sHpped  out  for  a  breath  of 
air  and  was  held  up  and  told  that  even  that  was  no 
good  until  I  had  had  it  vised  by  the  military  authori- 
ties. It  is  said  that  these  strict  measures  are  the  re- 
sult of  the  discovery  of  a  tremendous  spy  system 
here.  According  to  the  stories  which  are  told,  but 
of  which  we  have  Uttle  confirmation,  spies  are  being 
picked  up  all  the  time  in  the  strangest  disguises. 

The  gossip  and  "inside  news"  that  is  imparted  to 
us  is  screamingly  funny — some  of  it. 

Yesterday,  according  to  one  of  these  yarns,  four 
nuns  arriving  at  the  Gare  du  Midi  were  followed  for 
some  time  and  finally  arrested.  \ATien  searched,  they 
proved  to  be  young  German  officers  who  had  adopted 
that  dress  in  order  to  conceal  carrier  pigeons  which 
they  were  about  to  deliver  in  Brussels.  Wireless  outfits 
are  said  to  have  been  discovered  in  several  houses 
belonging  to  Germans.  I  cannot  remember  all  the 
yarns  that  are  going  about,  but  even  if  a  part  of  them 
are  true,  it  should  make  interesting  work  for  those 
who  are  looking  for  the  spies.  The  regular  arrests 
of  proven  spies  have  been  numerous  enough  to  turn 
every  Belgian  into  an  amateur  spy-catcher.  Yesterday 
afternoon  Burgomaster  Max  was  chased  for  several 
blocks  because  somebody  raised  a  cry  of  ''Espion''  based 
on  nothing  more  than  his  blond  beard  and  chubby 
face.  I  am  just  as  glad  not  to  be  fat  and  blond  these 
days. 

Yesterday  afternoon  a  Garde  Civique  came  in  with 
the  announcement  that  the  chancellor  and  clerks  of 
the  German  Legation,  who  were  locked  up  there,  were 


50    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

in  dire  distress;  that  a  baby  had  been  born  the  day 
before  to  the  wife  of  the  concierge,  and  that  all  sorts 
of  troubles  had  come  upon  them.  Leval,  who  had 
announced  that  his  heart  was  infinitely  hardened 
against  all  Germans,  was  almost  overcome  by  the 
news  of  a  suffering  baby  and  ran  like  a  lamp-lighter 
to  get  around  there  and  help  out.  When  we  arrived, 
however,  we  found  them  all  beaming  and  happy.  The 
baby  had  been  born  some  days  before  and  the  mother 
was  up  and  about  before  the  Legation  had  been  closed. 
Their  meals  are  sent  in  from  a  neighbouring  restaurant, 
and  they  are  perfectly  contented  to  bide  their  time 
as  they  are.  They  had  orders  from  Berlin  not  to  leave 
the  Legation,  so  it  made  little  difference  to  them 
whether  they  were  blockaded  by  the  Belgian  authorities 
or  not.  I  shall  drop  in  every  day  or  two  and  see 
whether  there  is  anything  I  can  do  to  lighten  their 
gloom.  Of  course  their  telephone  was  cut  off  and  they 
Ave  not  allowed  to  receive  mail  or  papers,  so  they 
are  consumed  with  curiosity  about  developments.  It 
was,  of  course,  necessary  to  refuse  to  answer  their 
questions  about  what  was  going  on  and  to  make 
assurance  doubly  sure,  I  had  the  Garde  Civique  stand 
by  me  while  I  talked  with  them. 

As  things  shape  up  now  it  looks  as  though  we  were 
the  only  life-sized  country  that  could  keep  neutral 
for  long,  and  as  a  consequence  all  the  representatives 
of  the  countries  in  conflict  are  keeping  us  pretty  well 
posted  in  the  belief  that  they  may  have  to  turn  their 
interests  over  to  us.  We  shall  probably  soon  have  to 
add  Austrian  interests  to  the  German  burdens  we  now 
have.     If  there  is  a  German  advance,   some   of  the 


A  JOUENAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    51 

Allied  ministers  will  no  doubt  turn  their  legations  over 
to  us.  The  consequence  is  that  we  may  see  more  of 
the  inside  of  things  than  anybody  else.  Now,  at  least, 
we  are  everybody's  friends.  This  is  undoubtedly  the 
most  interesting  post  in  Europe  for  the  time  being, 
and  I  would  not  be  anywhere  else  for  the  wealth  of  the 
Indies. 

Brussels,  Aug,  10,  19H. — ^The  Belgian  Govern- 
ment has  finally  got  out  a  proclamation,  urging  Ger- 
man subjects  to  leave  the  country,  but  stating  that 
in  the  event  of  a  general  order  of  expulsion,  certain 
classes  of  people  will  be  allowed  to  remain,  such  as, 
very  old  persons,  the  sick,  governesses,  nurses,  etc., 
and  even  others  for  whom  Belgians  of  undoubted 
reputation  are  willing  to  vouch.  There  are  quanti- 
ties of  Germans  who  have  lived  here  all  their  lives, 
who  are  really  more  Belgian  than  German,  have 
no  interest  in  the  present  conflict  and  are  threatened 
with  financial  ruin  if  they  leave  their  interests  here, 
and  it  is  pretty  hard  on  them  if  they  are  to  be  obhged 
to  get  out,  but  they  are  only  a  few  of  the  many,  many 
thousands  who  are  suffering  indirectly  from  the  effects 
of  the  war.  It  is  not  any  easier  for  the  manufacturers 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Liege,  who  will  see  the  work 
of  many  years  wiped  out  by  the  present  hostilities. 
Some  inspired  idiot  inserted  in  the  papers  yesterday 
the  news  that  the  Legation  was  attending  to  the 
repatriation  of  German  subjects  and  the  consequence 
is  that  our  hallways  have  been  jammed  with  Germans 
all  day,  making  uncouth  noises  and  trying  to  argue 
with  us  as  to  whether  or  not  we  are  in  charge  of  Ger- 


52    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

man  interests.  The  mere  fact  that  we  deny  it  is  not 
enough  for  them!  I  suppose  that  the  hallways  will 
continue  to  sound  hke  a  celebration  of  Kaisersgeburts- 
tag  until  we  have  sent  off  the  last  of  them. 

This  morning  a  large,  badly  frightened  darkey  came 
in  looking  for  a  passport.  He  awaited  his  turn  very 
quietly,  and  grew  visibly  more  and  more  apprehensive 
at  the  long  series  of  questions  asked  of  the  people 
ahead  of  him.  When  he  moved  up  to  the  desk,  the 
first  question  was: 

"Where  do  you  want  to  go.^" 

"Jes  as  fur  as  the  stature  of  Libbuty." 

"Are  you  an  American  citizen?" 

"Me.^  Lawd  bless  yuh!  No,  I  ain't  nuthin'  but  a 
plain  ole  Baltimoh  coon." 

Then  they  gave  him  the  usual  blank  to  fill  out. 
One  of  the  questions  on  it  was: 

"Wliy  do  you  desire  to  return  to  the  United  States.'^" 

Without  any  hesitation  he  wrote: 

"I  am  very  much  interested  in  my  home  at  the 
present  time." 

Everybody  here  is  intensely  curious  as  to  what  has 
become  of  the  British  army;  the  most  generally 
accepted  story  is  that  troops  have  been  landed  at 
Calais,  Dunkirk  and  Ostend,  but  although  this  is 
generally  believed,  there  seems  to  be  absolutely  no 
official  confirmation  of  it.  Everyone  seems  to  take  it 
for  granted  that  the  British  will  turn  up  in  good  form 
when  the  right  time  comes,  and  that  when  they  do 
turn  up,  it  will  have  a  good  effect.  If  they  can  get  to 
the  scene  of  hostilities  without  everybody  knowing 
about  it,  it  increases  by  just  so  much  their  chances 


Burgomaster  Max 


A  JOURNAL  FROINI  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    53 

of  success  and  anyone  that  knows  anything  at  all  is 
keeping  mum  and  hoping  that  no  British  soldier  will 
stumble  over  a  chair  and  make  a  noise  and  give  away 
the  line  of  march. 

Our  letters  from  London  indicate  intense  satisfaction 
with  the  appointment  of  Kitchener  and  confidence 
that  he  will  get  a  maximum  of  service  out  of  the  forces 
at  his  command. 

We  have  been  looking  from  one  moment  to  another 
for  news  of  a  big  naval  engagement,  but  suppose  the 
British  Navy  is  somewhere  waiting  for  a  chance  to 
strike. 

Colonel  Fairholme,  the  British  Mihtary  Attache, 
has  made  a  number  of  trips  to  the  front  and  reports 
that  the  morale  of  the  Belgian  troops  is  excellent,  that 
the  organisation  is  moving  like  clockwork,  and,  as  he 
expresses  it,  that  "every  man  has  his  tail  up." 

This  evening  I  went  over  to  the  British  Legation 
to  see  the  Colonel,  and  learn  whatever  news  he  had 
that  he  could  give  me.  There  was  a  great  scur- 
rying of  servants  and  the  porter  was  not  to  be  found 
in  the  chancery.  The  door  to  Grant- Watson's  room 
was  ajar,  so  I  tapped,  and,  on  being  bade  in  a 
gruff  voice  to  "Come  in,"  walked  into  the  presence 
of  a  British  officer  in  field  uniform,  writing  at  Webber's 
desk.  He  was  dusty  and  unshaven,  and  had  evidently 
come  in  from  a  long  ride.  I  promptly  backed  out 
with  apologies  and  was  hustled  out  of  the  place  by 
Kidston,  who  came  running  out  from  the  Minister's 
office.  I  asked  him  if  the  rest  of  the  army  was  hidden 
about  the  chancery,  and  his  only  reply  was  to  tell  me 
to  run  along  and  find  the  navy,  which  they  themselves 


54    A  JOURNAL  FROIM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

had  not  been  able  to  locate.  They  evidently  have  all 
they  need  to  know  about  the  whereabouts  of  the  army, 
but  have  succeeded  in  keeping  it  dark. 

C.  M.  came  over  to  the  Legation  this  afternoon  to 
get  some  books  for  her  mother.  We  fixed  her  up  and 
put  her  in  her  car,  when  she  announced  that  on  the 
way  over  she  had  been  arrested  and  taken  to  the 
police  station  as  a  German.  People  are  pointing  out 
spies  on  the  street,  and  anybody  that  is  blond  and  rosy- 
cheeked  stands  a  fine  show  of  being  arrested  every  time 
he  goes  out.  She  had  impressed  this  car  with  a  sus- 
pected number  and  paid  for  it  by  being  made  into 
a  jail  bird. 

My  day's  work  began  with  a  visit  to  the  German 
Legation.  The  Government  asked  me  to  secure  and 
return  the  number  for  the  automobile  of  von  Stumm, 
the  German  Counselor.  I  had  his  machine  put  in  the 
Legation  the  day  after  he  left,  although  he  had  offered 
it  to  me.  I  presented  myself  at  the  door  of  the  Lega- 
tion with  the  note  from  the  Foreign  Office,  asking  for 
the  number,  but  was  refused  admittance  by  the  Gardes 
Civiques.  They  were  very  nice,  but  stated  that  they 
had  the  strictest  orders  not  to  let  anybody  come  in 
or  out,  and  that  they  had  not  discretionary  powers. 
At  a  visit  at  the  Foreign  Office  later  in  the  day,  I  told 
of  my  experience  and  asked  that  I  be  furnished  by 
the  military  authorities  with  a  laisser-passer  which 
would  enable  me  to  enter  the  Legation  whenever  I  so 
desire.  This  afternoon  I  received  a  formidable  docu- 
ment from  the  INIilitary  Governor  which  gives  me  free 
passage — so  far  as  I  can  make  out — to  enter  the 
Legation  in  any  way  save  by  telephone  or  telegraph. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    55 

I  shall  go  around  to-morrow  and  rub  it  in  on  the 
Gardes  Civiques. 

The  question  of  passes  has  been  changed  and  made 
more  strict  each  day,  and  has  got  to  be  a  sort  of  joke. 
I  first  used  my  card,  that  was  declared  insufficient 
almost  from  the  first.  Then  I  tried  my  permis  de 
circulation,  which  was  issued  to  allow  me  to  get  into 
the  railway  stations  without  paying.  That  was  good 
for  a  day  or  so.  Then  I  tried  my  passport  (as  a  bearer 
of  despatches),  and  that  got  me  through  once  or 
twice.  Then  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  gave  me 
his  personal  card  with  a  laisser-passer  in  his  own  hand, 
but  that  was  soon  turned  down  on  the  ground  that 
the  military  authorities  are  in  control  and  the  civil 
authorities  cannot  grant  passes.  Finally  the  Govern- 
ment has  got  out  a  special  form  of  laisser-passer  for 
the  diplomats,  and  it  may  prove  to  be  good — although 
it  is  not  signed  by  the  military  authorities.  I  have 
taken  the  precaution  of  keeping  all  the  aforementioned 
documents  and  some  others  on  my  person,  and  am 
curious  to  see  how  soon  I  shall  have  to  have  some 
other.  The  Garde  Civique  is  no  longer  content  with 
holding  up  the  car  every  few  blocks  and  examining 
the  piece  d'dentite  of  the  chauffeur;  they  must  now  be 
satisfied  as  to  the  bona  fides  of  each  passenger.  Doing 
some  errands  around  town  this  afternoon  I  was  held 
up  and  looked  over  eleven  times.  I  now  pull  out  all 
the  documents  I  own  and  hand  out  the  bunch  each 
time  I  am  stopped.  The  Garde  then,  in  most  cases, 
treats  the  matter  rather  humorously,  and  the  next 
time  I  pass  lets  me  go  on  without  going  through  the 
whole  performance  again.     In  front  of  the   German 


56    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Legation,  however,  which  we  nearly  always  pass  on 
our  way  to  or  from  town,  we  are  invariably  held  up 
and  looked  into  seriously.  I  know  most  of  the  people 
on  the  different  shifts  by  this  time  and  wish  them  well 
each  time  they  look  at  the  well-remembered  papers. 
I  shall  keep  the  credentials  and  any  others  that  may 
eventually  be  added  to  them,  and  perhaps  some  day 
I  shall  be  able  to  paper  a  room  with  them. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  there  were  several 
matters  of  interest  which  made  it  necessary  for  me  to 
go  to  the  Foreign  Office.  All  their  messengers  are*  now 
gone,  and  in  their  place  there  is  a  squad  of  Boy  Scouts 
on  duty.  I  had  a  long  conference  with  van  der  Elst, 
the  Director- General  of  the  Ministry.  In  the  course 
of  our  pow-wow  it  was  necessary  to  send  out  com- 
munications to  various  people  and  despatch  instructions 
in  regard  to  several  small  matters.  Each  time  van  der 
Elst  would  ring,  for  what  he  calls  a  "scoots,"  and 
hand  him  the  message  with  specific  instructions  as 
to  just  how  it  should  be  handled.  The  boys  were 
right  on  their  toes,  and  take  great  pride  in  the  re- 
sponsibility that  is  given  them.  Some  of  them  have 
bicycles  and  do  the  messenger  work  through  the  town. 
Those  who  have  not,  run  errands  in  the  different 
buildings  and  attend  to  small  odd  jobs. 

The  Red  Cross  is  very  much  in  evidence.  I  went 
around  to  the  headquarters  after  my  call  at  the  Foreign 
Office,  to  make  a  little  contribution  of  my  own  and 
to  leave  others  for  members  of  our  official  family. 
The  headquarters  is  at  the  house  of  Count  Jean  de 
Merode,  the  Grand  Marshal  of  the  Court.  The  en- 
trance hall  was  filled  with  Uttle  tables  where  women 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    51 

sat  receiving  contributions  of  money  and  supplies. 
I  had  to  wait  some  time  before  I  could  get  near  enough 
to  one  of  the  dozen  or  more  tables,  to  hand  in  my 
contributions.  This  is  the  headquarters,  but  there  are 
any  number  of  branch  oflSces,  and  they  are  said  to  be 
equally  busy.  The  society  has  been  quite  overcome 
by  the  way  people  have  come  forward  with  gifts,  and 
they  have  been  almost  imable  to  get  enough  people 
together  to  handle  them  as  they  come  in.  The  big 
cafes  down-town  nearly  all  have  signs  out,  announcing 
that  on  a  certain  day  or  days  they  will  give  their  entire 
receipts  to  the  Red  Cross  or  to  one  of  the  several 
funds  gotten  up  to  take  care  of  those  suffering  directly 
or  indirectly  from  the  war.  Many  of  the  small  shops 
have  signs  out  of  the  same  sort,  announcing  that  the 
entire  receipts  for  all  articles  sold  on  a  certain  day 
will  be  handed  to  one  of  the  funds.  They  must  have 
gathered  an  enormous  amount  of  money,  and  I  don't 
doubt  they  will  need  it.  The  wounded  are  being 
brought  in  in  great  numbers  and  many  buildings  are 
quite  filled  with  them.  In  nearly  every  street  there 
is  a  Red  Cross  flag  or  two,  to  indicate  a  temporary 
hospital  in  a  private  house  or  a  hotel  or  shop,  and 
people  are  stationed  in  the  street  to  make  motors 
turn  aside  or  slow  down.  There  are  almost  no  motors 
on  the  street  except  those  on  official  business  or  Red 
Cross  work;  and,  because  of  the  small  amount  of 
traflSc,  these  few  go  like  young  cyclones,  keeping 
their  sirens  going  all  the  time.  The  chauffeurs  love 
it  and  swell  around  as  much  as  they  are  allowed  to 
do.  I  pray  with  ours  now  and  then,  but  even  when 
I  go  out  to  the  barber,  he  seems  to  beheve  that  he 


58    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

is  on  his  way  to  a  fire  and  cuts  loose  for  all  he  is 
worth. 

Quantities  of  German  prisoners  continue  to  be 
brought  here  for  safe  keeping,  and  many  of  them  are 
taken  on  down  to  Bruges.  Among  those  removed 
there  for  unusually  safe  keeping  yesterday  was  a 
nephew  of  the  Emperor. 

Judging  from  the  stories  printed  in  the  London 
Times  which  arrived  to-night,  the  German  Govern- 
ment aroused  great  enthusiasm  by  playing  up  the 
capture  of  Liege.  The  Germans  evidently  were  led 
to  believe  they  had  gained  a  great  victory;  whereas 
the  forts,  which  are  the  only  object  of  the  campaign, 
are  still  intact.  The  city  itself  is  undefended,  and 
there  is  no  great  military  reason  why  the  Belgians 
should  not  allow  it  to  be  taken.  The  German  troops 
that  had  invested  the  town  have  not  taken  over  the 
administration,  but  appear  to  be  confining  themselves 
to  requisitioning  provisions  and  supplies,  of  which  they 
are  in  need.  The  Berlin  papers  made  a  great  hurrah 
about  the  capture  of  the  citadel,  which  is  a  purely 
ornamental  old  fort  without  military  importance. 
From  what  they  tell  me,  I  judge  that  you  could  back 
an  American  army  mule  up  against  it  and  have  him 
kick  it  down  without  the  expense  of  bombarding  it. 
It  sounds  well  in  the  despatches,  however. 

Eight  French  aeroplanes  sailed  over  the  city  this 
afternoon,  probably  coming  from  Namur.  One  of  the 
machines  landed  on  the  aviation  field  at  the  edge  of 
the  city,  and  the  aviator  was  nearly  torn  to  shreds 
by  admirers  who  wanted  to  shake  him  by  the  hand 
and    convince   him   that   he   was   really   welcome   to 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    59 

Brussels.  It  is  said  that  some  of  these  fellows  are 
going  to  lie  in  wait  for  the  Zeppelins  which  have  been 
sailing  over  Brussels  by  night  to  terrify  the  population. 
We  hear  that  one  of  the  Belgian  army  aviators  did 
attack  a  Zeppelin  and  put  it  out  of  business,  bringing 
to  earth  and  killing  all  the  crew.  He  himself  went  to 
certain  death  in  the  attempt. 

The  afternoon  papers  say  that  in  Paris  the  name 
of  the  Rue  de  Berlin  has  been  changed  to  Rue  de 
Liege.  Here  the  Rue  d'Allemagne  has  been  changed 
to  Rue  de  Liege  and  the  Rue  de  Prusse  to  Rue  du 
General  Leman,  the  defender  of  Liege.  The  time 
abounds  in  beaux  gestes  and  they  certainly  have  their 
effect  on  the  situation. 

Kitchener  says  that  the  war  may  last  for  some  time. 
At  first  it  seemed  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  it  could 
not  last  long,  as  the  financial  strain  would  be  too  great 
and  the  damage  done  so  enormous  that  one  side  or  the 
other  would  have  to  yield  to  avoid  national  bankruptcy. 

Brussels,  August  11,  19 H. — Our  halls  have  been 
filled  with  Germans  and  Americans,  the  latter  in 
smaller  numbers  and  the  former  in  larger  crowds 
than  ever.  They  are  gradually  being  got  out  of  the 
country,  however,  and  those  who  are  going  to  remain 
are  being  induced  to  go  to  the  right  authorities,  so  that 
their  troubles  will  soon  be  settled  to  a  large  extent, 
and  they  will  not  be  coming  here  so  much.  We  are 
getting  off  hundreds  of  telegrams  about  the  where- 
abouts and  welfare  of  Americans  and  others  here  and 
in  other  parts  of  Europe;  this  work  alone  is  enough 


60    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

to  keep  a  good-sized  staff  working,  and  we  have  them 
hard  at  it. 

This  afternoon  I  went  over  to  the  British  Legation 
and  saw  Colonel  Fairholme,  the  military  attache,  for 
a  few  minutes.  He  was  just  back  from  a  trip  out  into 
the  wilds  with  a  party  of  British  officers  and  was  so 
clearly  rushed  that  I  had  not  the  heart  to  detain  him, 
although  I  was  bursting  with  curiosity  about  the  news 
he  evidently  had  concealed  about  him.  He  appreciates 
the  lenient  way  I  have  treated  him,  and  goes  out  of 
his  way  to  let  me  have  anything  that  he  can. 

While  I  was  out  we  saw  a  German  monoplane 
which  sailed  over  the  city  not  very  high  up.  The 
newspapers  have  published  a  clear  description  of  the 
various  aeroplanes  that  are  engaged  in  the  present 
war,  so  that  nobody  will  be  foolish  enough  to  fire  at 
those  of  the  allies  when  they  come  our  way.  This 
one  was  clearly  German,  and  the  Garde  Civique  and 
others  were  firing  at  it  with  their  rifles,  but  without 
any  success.  Our  Legation  guard,  which  consists  of 
about  twenty-five  men,  banged  away  in  a  perfect 
fusillade,  but  the  airman  was  far  too  high  for  them 
to  have  much  chance  of  hitting  him. 

Yesterday  afternoon  w^hen  the  German  biplanes 
passed  over  the  city,  a  Belgian  officer  gave  chase  in 
a  monoplane,  but  could  not  catch  them.  Contests 
of  this  sort  are  more  exciting  to  the  crowd  than  any 
fancy  aviation  stunts  that  are  done  at  exhibitions,  and 
the  whole  town  turns  out  whenever  an  aeroplane  is 
sighted. 

This  morning  I  presented  myself  at  the  German 
Legation   with   the   imposing   laisser-passer   furnished 


Belgian  War  Medals 


Belgian  War  Medals 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    61 

me  by  the  Military  Governor  of  Brabant,  but  the 
guard  on  duty  at  the  door  had  not  received  orders  to 
let  me  in  and  turned  me  down  politely  but  definitely. 
I  took  the  matter  up  with  the  Foreign  OflSce  and  said 
that  I  wanted  it  settled,  so  that  I  would  not  have  any 
more  fruitless  trips  over  there.  At  five  an  oflScer  from 
the  Etat-Major  of  the  Garde  Civique  came  for  me  in 
a  motor  and  took  me  over  to  the  Legation,  to  give 
orders  in  my  presence  that  whenever  I  appeared  I  was 
to  be  allowed  to  pass  without  argument.  As  I  got  into 
the  motor  I  noticed  that  the  soldier  who  was  driving 
the  car  looked  at  me  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  but 
paid  no  attention  to  him.    When  I  took  a  second  look 

I  saw  that  it  was  G.  B ,  with  whom  I  had  played 

golf  several  times.  I  am  constantly  being  greeted  by 
people  in  uniform  whom  I  had  known  at  one  time  or 
another.    It  is  hard  to  recognise  them  in  uniform. 

So  far  as  operations  in  Belgium  are  concerned,  we 
may  not  have  anything  big  for  some  days  to  come; 
but,  in  the  meantime,  work  of  preparation  is  being 
pushed  rapidly  and  supplies  and  reinforcements  are 
being  rushed  to  the  front.  Half  the  shops  in  town  are 
closed,  and  all  the  people  are  working  either  in  the 
field  or  taking  care  of  the  wounded  or  prisoners.  There 
are  said  to  be  some  eight  thousand  German  prisoners 
in  Belgium,  and  it  is  some  work  to  take  care  of  them 
all. 

Brussels,  August  12,  1914- — ^A  few  minutes'  gap,  so 
I  seize  my  pen  to  scratch  off  a  line. 

Last  night  when  I  left  here  I  rode  up  the  Rue 
BeUiard  on  my  way  home.     I  was  stopped  in  front 


62    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

of  the  German  Legation  by  the  guard  which  was 
placed  across  the  street.  They  examined  the  chauffeur's 
papers  carefully  and  then  looked  over  mine.  They 
compared  the  tintype  on  my  laisser-passer  with  the 
classic  lineaments  of  the  original,  and  after  looking 
wise,  told  me  to  move  on.  When  we  got  up  to  the 
Boulevard  there  was  great  cheering,  and  we  came 
out  on  a  thin  file  of  French  cavalry,  which  was  on 
its  way  through  town  from  the  Gare  du  Midi.  The 
crowd  was  mad  with  enthusiasm  and  the  soldiers, 
although  plainly  very  tired,  pulled  their  strength 
together  every  now  and  then  to  cry,  "  Vive  la  Belgique!'^ 
There  were  crowds  on  the  Boulevards,  waiting  for 
news  from  Id  bos,  A  few  French  officers  were 
going  about  in  cabs,  and  each  time  that  one  appeared 
the  crowd  went  mad.  The  officers  were  smiling  and 
saluting,  and  every  now  and  then  one  stood  up  in  his 
place  and  cheered  for  Belgium.  In  twenty  minutes 
or  so,  I  saw  that  we  could  get  through,  so  started  for 
home  and  bed. 

When  we  got  to  the  Porte  de  Namur,  we  heard 
frenzied  cheering  down  by  the  Porte  Louise.  The 
chauffeur  is  a  regular  old  war  horse  who  does  not  want 
to  miss  a  trick.  He  cast  a  questioning  glance  over 
his  shoulder;  and,  catching  my  nod,  put  on  full  speed 
down  the  Boulevard  until  we  came  to  a  solid  crowd 
banked  along  the  line  of  march  of  more  French  cavalry. 
The  people  in  the  crowd  had  bought  out  the  nearby 
shops  of  cigars  and  cigarettes  and  chocolate  and  small 
flasks  of  brandy,  and  as  each  man  rode  by,  he  was 
loaded  up  with  as  much  as  he  could  carry.  The  defile 
had  been  going  on  for  over  an  hour,  but  the  enthusiasm 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    63 

was  still  boundless.  All  the  cafes  around  the  Porte 
Louise  sent  out  waiters  and  waitresses  with  trays  of 
beer  to  meet  the  troops  as  they  came  into  the  Avenue 
Louise.  Each  man  would  snatch  a  glass  of  beer, 
swallow  it  as  he  rode  along  and  hand  it  back  to  others 
who  were  waiting  with  empty  trays  a  hundred  yards 
or  so  down  the  line  of  march.  The  men  were  evidently 
very  tired,  and  it  was  an  effort  for  them  to  show  any 
appreciation  of  their  reception,  but  they  made  the 
effort  and  croaked  out,  ''Vive  la  Belgiquef'  The 
French  and  British  troops  can  have  anything  they  want 
in  this  country.  They  will  be  lucky,  though,  if  they 
escape  without  acute  indigestion. 

Yesterday  afternoon,  as  I  was  coming  out  of  the 
chancery  of  the  British  Legation,  a  little  cockney 
messenger  in  uniform  came  snorting  into  the  court 
on  a  motor-cycle.  As  he  got  off  he  began  describing 
his  experiences,  and  wound  up  his  story  of  triumphant 
progress — ''And  when  I  got  to  the  Boulevards  I  ran 
down  a  blighter  on  a  bicycle  and  the  crowd  gave  me 
an  ovation!" 

More  troubles  to-day  about  the  German  Legation. 
The  Etat-Major  gave  orders  that  nobody  but  I 
should  be  allowed  to  enter.  The  laymen  who  have 
the  onerous  duty  of  protecting  the  Legation  held 
a  council  of  war,  and  decided  that  this  precluded 
them  from  allowing  food  to  go  in;  so  when  the  waitress 
from  the  Grand  Veneur  with  the  lunch  of  th6  crowd 
inside  came  along,  she  was  turned  back  and  told  I 
should  have  to  go  with  her.  I  went  around  to  the 
Legation  and  fixed  it  up  with  the  guard.  A  few  minutes 
ago  the  waitress   came   back  with   word   that   more 


64    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

bread  and  butter  was  wanted,  but  that  the  guard  had 
changed  and  that  she  was  again  barred  out.  Monsieur 
de  Leval  and  I  went  around  again  and  fortunately 
found  some  one  from  the  Etat-Major  who  was  there 
for  inspection.  He  promised  to  get  proper  orders  issued 
and  now  we  hope  that  we  shall  not  be  obliged  to  take 
in  every  bite  under  convoy. 

There  are  ominous  reports  to-day  of  a  tremendous 
German  advance  in  this  direction,  and  it  is  generally 
believed  that  there  will  be  a  big  engagement  soon  near 
Haelen,  which  is  on  the  way  from  Liege  to  Tirlemont. 
Communications  are  cut,  so  I  don't  quite  see  where 
all  the  news  comes  from. 

After  dinner. — ^News  sounds  better  to-night.  Al- 
though there  is  nothing  very  definite,  the  impression 
is  that  the  Belgians  have  come  out  victorious  to-day 
in  an  engagement  near  Tirlemont.  I  hope  to  get 
some  news  later  in  the  evening. 

During  a  lull  in  the  proceedings  this  afternoon,  I 
got  in  Blount's  car  and  went  out  to  Brooks,  to  see  his 
horses  and  arrange  to  have  him  send  them  in  for  our 
use  every  afternoon.  He  came  over  here  a  few  months 
ago  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  life  in  peace  and  quiet. 
It  looks  as  though  he  wouldn't  get  much  of  either. 

The  Avenue  de  Tervueren,  a  broad  boulevard  with 
a  parkway  down  the  centre,  is  the  most  direct  way 
into  town  from  the  scene  of  the  fighting,  and  there 
has  been  a  general  belief  that  the  Germans  might  rush 
a  force  into  town  in  motors  that  way.  In  order  to 
be  ready  for  anything  of  the  sort,  a  barricade  has  been 
made  of  hea\y  tram  cars  placed  at  right  angles  across 
the  road,  so  that  they  do  not  absolutely  stop  traffic. 


Copyriiiht  by  Harris  &  Eirinj,  IWuslunijIon 

The  Marquis  de  Villalobar,  Spanish  Minister  at  Brussels 


•>£■-•*?**'  S-- 


W^^'^^\i^rT0  '^'"^'  ''^'^•■'''" 


-w>^- 


A  barbed  wire  entanglement  at  Antwerp 


The  Garde  CiviqiK^'s  idea  of  a  })ar])ed  wire  entanglement  at  the  be- 
ginning of  th<i  war.     (Taken  at  the  end  of  the  Avenue  Louise) 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    65 

but   compel   motors   to    slow    down    and    pick    their 
way,  thus : 


It  is  close  work  getting  through,  and  can  only  be 
done  at  a  snail's  pace. 

The  latest  news  we  have  is  that  the  nearest  large 
German  force  is  just  38  miles  away  from  Brussels. 

Brussels,  August  13,  1914. — ^Last  night,  after  dining 
late,  I  went  out  to  find  my  friend.  Colonel  Fairholme, 
and  see  if  he  had  any  news.  He  had  just  finished  his 
day's  work  and  wanted  some  air.  Fortunately  I  had 
the  car  along  and  so  took  him  out  for  a  spin  to  the 
end  of  the  Avenue  Louise.  We  walked  back,  followed 
by  the  car,  and  had  a  nightcap  at  the  Porte  de  Namur. 

The  Colonel  has  been  going  to  Louvain  every  day, 
to  visit  the  General  Staff  and  report  to  the  King  as 
the  military  representative  of  an  ally.  The  first  time 
he  arrived  in  a  motor  with  Gen.  de  Selliers  de  Moran- 
ville,  the  Chief  of  Staff.  As  they  drew  into  the  square 
in  front  of  the  headquarters,  they  saw  that  everything 
was  in  confusion  and  a  crowd  was  gathered 
to  watch  arrivals  and  departures.  When  their  car 
stopped,  a  large  thug,  mistaking  him  for  a  German 
officer,  reached  in  and  dealt  him  a  smashing  blow  on 


66    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

the  mouth  with  his  fist,  calhng  him  a  ''sal  alboche'' 
by  way  of  good  measure.  He  had  to  go  in  and  report  to 
the  King,  streaming  with  blood — a  pleasant  beginning. 
He  is  just  getting  back  to  a  point  where  he  can  eat 
with  ease  and  comfort.  Life  will  be  easier  for  some 
of  the  attaches  when  people  get  used  to  khaki  uniforms 
and  learn  that  some  do  not  cover  Germans. 

The  day  the  General  Staff  left  for  the  front,  the 
Colonel  went  to  see  them  off.  He  was  called  by  one 
of  the  high  officers  who  wanted  to  talk  to  him,  and 
was  persuaded  to  get  on  the  train  and  ride  as  far  as  the 
Gare  du  Luxembourg,  sending  his  car  through  town 
to  meet  him  there.  Word  came  that  the  King  wanted 
to  see  the  Chief  of  Staff,  so  he  asked  the  Colonel  to 
take  him  to  the  Palace.  When  the  crowd  saw  a  British 
officer  in  uniform  and  decorations  come  out  of  the 
station  accompanied  by  the  Chief  of  Staff  and  two 
aides,  they  decided  that  it  was  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  British  army  who  was  arriving  and  gave 
him  a  wonderful  ovation.  Even  the  papers  published 
it  as  authentic.  He  was  tremendously  fussed  at  the 
idea  of  sailing  under  false  colors,  but  the  rest  of  us 
have  got  some  amusement  out  of  it. 

Stories  are  coming  in  here  about  the  doings  of  the 
German  troops.  According  to  reports  they  came  into 
Hasselt  and  took  the  money  in  the  town  treasury  and 
the  local  bank — some  two  and  a  half  milhons  altogether. 
The  story,  whether  true  or  not,  has  caused  a  great 
deal  of  ill  feeling  here.  There  is  another  story  that 
the  commanding  officer  of  one  of  the  forts  around 
Liege  was  summoned  to  parley  with  a  white  flag. 
When  he  chmbed  on  top  of  his  turret,  he  was  shot 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    67 

through  both  legs  and  only  saved  by  his  men  pulling 
nim  to  cover.  Of  course  there  are  always  a  great 
many  stories  of  this  sort  scattered  broadcast  at  the 
beginning  of  every  war,  but  in  this  instance  they  seem 
to  be  generally  believed  and  are  doing  the  Germans 
no  good  at  all. 

Mile.  D ,  one  of  our  stenographers,  has  a  brother 

in  the  French  army.  She  has  not  heard  a  word 
from  him  since  the  war  began,  and  had  no  idea  where 
he  was.  Yesterday  a  small  detachment  of  French 
cavalry  came  along  the  street.     She  ran  out,  called 

to  one  of  them  that  her  brother  was  in  the ,  and 

asked  w^here  it  was.  They  told  her  it  had  not  yet  been 
in  action  and  she  has  been  walking  on  air  ever  since. 
But  she  could  not  telegraph  the  good  news  to  her 
family,  for  fear  of  betraying  military  movements. 

Roger  de  Leval,  the  8-year-old  son  of  our  friend, 
practically  broke  off  diplomatic  relations  with  his 
father  and  mother  because  he  was  not  allowed  to 
be  a  Boy  Scout.  His  father  was  at  the  Legation,  his 
mother  at  the  Red  Cross,  and  he  had  to  stay  at  home 
with  his  governess.  He  felt  so  badly  about  it  that  we 
had  Monsieur  de  Leval  register  him  as  a  B.  S.,  and 
have  him  assigned  to  special  duty  at  the  Legation. 
He  attends  in  full  uniform  and  carries  messages  and 
papers  from  my  room  to  the  other  offices  and  vice 
versa.  When  we  go  out  he  rides  on  the  box  with 
the  chauffeur  and  salutes  all  the  officers  we  pass. 
They  are  used  to  it  now  and  return  the  salutes  very 
gravely.  The  youngster  now  feels  that  he  is  really 
doing  something,  but  is  outraged  because  we  go  along. 
He  wants  to  undertake  some  of  the  big  missions  alone. 


68    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Princesse  Charles  de  Ligne  was  in  this  morning. 
Her  son,  Prince  Henri,  head  of  that  branch  of  the 
house,  has  enhsted  as  a  private  in  the  aviation  corps. 
There  seemed  to  be  no  way  for  him  to  have  a  com- 
mission at  once,  so  he  put  his  star  of  the  Legion  of 
Honor  on  his  private's  uniform  and  was  off  to  the 
front  yesterday.    That's  the  spirit. 

Comtesse  d'A was  at  their  home  in  the  Grand 

Duchy  when  war  broke  out.  No  news  had  been 
received  from  her,  and  her  husband  was  worried  sick. 
We  got  a  message  through  via  The  Hague  and  got 
word  back  this  morning  that  she  was  safe  and  well. 
I  went  up  to  tell  him  the  good  news.  He  was  presiding 
over  some  sort  of  committee  meeting,  and  the  maid 
said  I  could  not  see  him.  I  insisted  that  she  should 
announce  me  and  after  some  argument  she  did.  As 
the  door  opened,  the  buzz  subsided  and  she  announced : 
*' Monsieur  le  Secretaire  de  la  Legation  d'Amerique.'' 
There  was  a  terrible  cry  of  fear  and  the  old  Count  came 
running  out  white  as  a  sheet.  Before  he  had  come  in 
sight  I  called  out,  *' Les  nouvelles  sont  bonnes!'^  The 
old  chap  collapsed  on  my  shoulder  and  cried  like 
a  baby,  saying  over  and  over:  ''Tetais  si  inquiet: 
fetais  si  inquiet!''  He  soon  pulled  himself  together 
and  showed  me  out  to  the  car  with  the  honours  of 
war.  We  send  and  receive  hundreds  of  telegrams  of 
inquiry  and  shoot  them  through  in  a  perfectly  routine 
way.  It  is  only  now  and  then  that  we  come  to  a 
realising  sense  of  the  human  side  of  it  all. 

This  afternoon  I  went  over  and  made  inquiry  as 
to  the  well-being  of  those  who  are  cooped  up  in  the 
German  Legation.     They  are  getting  along  perfectly 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    69 

well,  but  are  consumed  with  curiosity  as  to  the  progress 
of  the  war.  The  Government  has  not  allow^ed  them 
to  have  any  letters  or  newspapers,  and  they  are  com- 
pletely in  the  dark  as  to  what  is  going  on.  I  felt  like 
a  brute  to  refuse  them,  but  could  not  very  well  do 
anything  against  the  wishes  of  the  Government.  They 
were  decent  enough  not  to  embarrass  me  by  insisting, 
which  made  it  harder  to  refuse.  The  son  of  Hofrath 
Grabowsky,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Legation,  is  Secretary 
of  the  German  Consulate  at  Antwerp.  He  came  do^vn 
here  to  say  good-bye  to  his  father  the  day  war  was  de- 
clared, and  lingered  so  long  that  he  was  cooped  up  with 
the  others.  He  is  liable  for  military  service  in  Germany, 
and  having  left  his  post  at  Antwerp  at  such  a  time, 
he  must  face  a  court  martial  whenever  he  does  get 
home.  There  are  five  or  six  people  there,  including 
the  w^ife  of  the  old  Hofrath,  who  are  firmly  convinced 
that  they  will  all  be  murdered  in  their  beds.  It  is  my 
daily  job  to  comfort  them  and  assure  them  that  nobody 
now  here  is  giving  any  thought  to  them. 

Last  night  I  dined  with  Colonel  Fairholme  and  Kids- 
ton,  the  First  Secretary  of  the  Legation.  We  went 
to  the  usually  crowded  terrace  of  the  Palace  Hotel, 
where  w^e  had  no  diflficulty  in  getting  a  table  in  the  best 
part  of  the  balcony.  The  few  other  diners  were  nearly 
all  colleagues  or  officers.  Military  motors  and  motor- 
cycles came  and  went,  and  orderlies  dashed  up  on 
horseback  and  delivered  messages;  it  looked  like  war. 

The  proprietor  of  the  hotel,  who  has  given  one 
hundred  thousand  francs  to  the  Red  Cross,  rolled  up 
in  his  motor  from  a  trip  to  the  front  and  got  out  with 
an  armful  of  Prussian  helmets  and  caps,  which  he  had 


70    A  JOURNAL  FROINI  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

collected.  A  crowd  gathered  round  the  motor  and 
displayed  as  much  pleasure  as  though  he  had  brought 
in  a  whole  German  Army  corps.  The  novelty  of  these 
souvenirs  has  not  yet  worn  off. 

Women  with  big  tin  boxes  came  by  every  few 
minutes  to  collect  for  the  Red  Cross  or  some  other 
fund.  Finally  the  Colonel  protested,  and  asked  if 
there  was  no  way  of  buying  immunity.  That  was 
quickly  arranged  by  giving  up  five  francs,  in  return 
for  which  we  were  given  tags  of  immunity.  Dozens 
of  collectors  came  by  during  the  evening,  but  our 
ostentatiously  displayed  tags  saved  us. 

We  ate  at  our  leisure — out  of  doors — the  first  un- 
hurried and  unharried  meal  I  have  had  for  days,  and 
then  got  back  to  the  Legation. 

This  afternoon  the  Minister  and  I  went  over  to  see 
Sir  Francis  Villiers,  the  British  Minister,  and  spent 
half  an  hour  with  him.  He  is  evidently  all  ready  to 
make  a  quick  get-away  whenever  it  looks  as  though  the 
Germans  would  come  to  Brussels.  A  number  of  the 
other  diplomats  are  also  prepared  to  depart.  Those 
who  are  accredited  at  The  Hague  will  probably  go 
there,  and  the  others  will  go  to  Antwerp.  We  are  too 
busy  here  to  enjoy  the  luxury  of  spending  a  month 
undergoing  a  siege,  so  no  matter  what  happens,  we  shall 
probably  not  go  along.  The  Minister  and  I  shall  take 
turns  from  time  to  time,  going  up  to  pay  our  respects. 

Having  some  things  to  talk  over,  the  Minister  and 
I  went  for  a  drive  after  our  visit,  and  it  was  well  we 
did,  for  when  we  got  back,  we  found  the  hall  filled  with 
callers.  As  the  tourists  and  the  Germans  leave,  the 
w^ar  correspondents  begin  to  come  in,  and  in  a  few 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    71 

days  we  shall  probably  have  the  place  full  of  them. 
I  heard  to-day  that  there  were  200  of  them  in  London, 
and  that  most  of  them  want  to  come  on  here. 

Maxwell,  the  British  correspondent,  told  me  this 
afternoon  that  he  looked  for  a  big  engagement  at 
Diest  to-morrow  or  the  day  after.  He  has  been  down 
through  the  fighting  zone  ever  since  the  trouble  began, 
and  probably  knows  more  about  pending  operations 
than  any  other  civilian. 

While  I  was  writing,  Z came  in,  suffering  from 

a  bad  case  of  panic.  He  announced  as  he  burst  into 
my  office  that  the  Germans  were  within  20  kilometers 
of  Brussels  and  were  going  to  occupy  the  city  this 
evening.  He  was  fairly  trembling,  but  got  indignant 
because  I  denied  it,  having  just  talked  with  Colonel 
Fairholme  and  with  Maxwell,  both  of  whom  had  no 
more  than  come  back  from  the  front.  The  fact  that 
it  had  been  published  in  the  Soir  was  enough  for  him, 
and  although  the  news  had  made  him  nervous,  he 
hated  to  have  his  perfectly  good  sensation  spoiled. 

The  authorities,  so  as  to  be  prepared  for  any  eventu- 
ality, have  this  evening  published  a  communique  to 
impress  upon  the  population  the  necessity  for  abstain- 
ing from  any  participation  in  the  hostilities  in  case  of 
an  occupation.  It  advises  everybody  to  stay  indoors 
and  avoid  any  words  or  actions  that  might  give  an 
excuse  for  measures  against  non-combatants. 

August  15th. — ^Last  night  I  dined  with  the  Colonel, 
Grant-Watson,  and  Kidston  at  the  Palace.  I  was  look- 
ing forward  to  a  lot  of  interesting  talk,  as  the  Colonel 
had  just  come  from  the  front.    Just  as  we  were  settling 


72    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

down    to    our    conversational    Marathon,    up    walked 

,    the  Charge    and    bade    himself    to    dine 

with  us.  He  is  strongly  pro-German  in  his  sympathies, 
and,  of  course,  that  put  a  complete  damper  on  con- 
versation. We  talked  about  everything  on  earth  save 
the  one  thing  we  were  interested  in,  and  sat  tight  in 
the  hope  that  he  would  move  on.     Not  only  did  he 

stay,  but  after  a  time  the First  Secretary  came 

and  joined  us,  and  we  gave  up  in  despair.  The  only 
result  of  the  evening  was  that  I  gathered  the  im- 
pression that  there  is  a  good  deal  of  apprehension  on 
the  part  of  the  allies  as  to  the  result  of  the  next  big 
battle,  which  may  occur  any  day  now.  The  Germans 
are  undoubtedly  pretty  near  now,  perhaps  a  good  deal 
nearer  than  we  know.  Just  before  dinner  the  War 
Office  announced  that  there  would  be  no  further 
official  communiques  as  to  the  operations.  That  looks 
as  though  they  w^ere  battening  do\^^l  the  hatches  for 
the  next  big  engagement. 

Yesterday's  papers  announced  France's  declaration 
of  war  against  xAustria.  This  morning  comes  the  news 
that  Montenegro  has  also  declared  her  intention  of 
wiping  Austria  off  the  map.  Our  daily  query  now  is — 
"Who  has  declared  war  to-day.^" 

Every  minute  we  are  not  hammering  away  at  our 
work,  we  sit  around  and  talk  of  the  latest  developments. 
These  things  make  such  an  impression  that  I  can  quite 
understand  old  veterans  boring  everybody  to  death 
with  reminiscences.  I  see  some  forty  years  from  now 
that  people  will  be  saying:  "I  don't  w^ant  to  let  old 
man  Gibson  get  hold  of  me  and  tell  me  all  about  the 
war  of  1914!" 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    73 

This  morning  I  received  a  telegram  from  Richard 
Harding  Davis,  who  wants  to  join  the  Belgian  forces. 
We  are  trying  to  arrange  it  this  morning,  and  I  expect 
to  see  him  any  day  now. 

We  are  going  to  have  a  lot  of  newspaper  men  in  our 
midst.  I  met  two  more  of  them  last  night.  None 
of  them  who  have  so  far  appeared  speak  any  language 
but  English,  but  they  are  all  quite  confident  that  they 
can  get  all  the  news.  I  look  next  for  Palmer  and  Jimmy 
Hare  and  the  rest  of  the  crowd. 

Maxwell,  the  Telegraph  correspondent,  yesterday 
showed  me  a  photograph  of  a  French  bulldog  that  has 
been  doing  good  service  at  Liege.  His  master,  who 
is  an  officer  in  one  of  the  forts,  fastens  messages  in 
his  collar  and  shoves  him  out  onto  the  glacis.  The 
puppy  makes  a  blue  streak  for  home  and,  as  he  is 
always  sent  at  night,  has  managed  so  far  to  avoid  the 
Germans.  His  mistress  brings  him  back  to  the  edge 
of  town  and  starts  him  back  for  the  fort. 

The  Belgian  troops  have  so  far  had  to  dam  the 
flood  of  Germans  with  httle  or  no  help  from  the  allies. 
The  Kaiser  expected,  so  far  as  we  can  make  out,  to 
sweep  through  Belgium  with  little  opposition  and  be 
fighting  in  France  in  three  days!  The  Belgians  have 
knocked  his  schedule  out  by  twelve  days  already,  and 
there  is  no  telling  how  much  longer  they  may  hold  out. 
"  My  military  advisers  "  tell  me  that  in  view  of  the  great 
necessity  for  a  quick  campaign  in  France,  so  as  to  get  the 
army  back  in  time  to  head  off  the  Russian  flood  when 
it  begins  to  pour  over  the  northern  frontier,  the  loss  of 
this  much  time  is  equivalent  to  the  loss  of  the  first 
great  battle.     The  moral  effect  is  also  tremendous. 


74    A  JOURNAL  FROINI  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

The  Minister  to-day  had  a  card  from  Omer  which 
began:  ''Tai  Vhonneur  de  faire  savoir  a  Voire  Excel- 
lence que  je  suis  encore  tou jours  vivantf'  Encore 
toujours  sounds  as  though  he  were  pretty  emphatically 
ahve.    We  were  all  relieved  to  hear  from  him. 

Villalobar,  the  Spanish  Minister,  came  in  after 
diimer — just  to  visit.  His  household  is  greatly  upset. 
His  cook  and  three  footmen  have  gone  to  the  war. 
He  apologised  for  not  inviting  us  to  dine  during  these 
depressing  days,  but  said  he  could  not,  as  his  cook 
was  a  Lucretia  di  Borgia.  He  is  confident  that  the 
war  is  going  to  knock  Brussels  life  into  a  cocked  hat 
this  winter.  So  many  of  the  families  will  be  in  mourn- 
ing, and  so  much  poverty  w411  come  as  a  result  of  the 
war.  Life  goes  on  so  normally  now,  save  for  the  little 
annoyances  of  living  under  martial  law,  that  it  is  hard 
to  realise  that  such  great  changes  are  imminent. 

Brussels,  August  16,  19 H. — This  morning  I  walked 
out  of  my  office  and  bumped  into  Frederick  Palmer.  I 
had  no  idea  he  was  so  near.  Tw o  weeks  ago  he  was  in 
Vera  Cruz,  but  made  a  bee-line  for  Brussels  at  the  first 
news  of  impending  war.  In  the  breathing  spaces  during 
the  morning  I  got  in  a  little  visiting  with  him.  He  stayed 
to  lunch  at  the  Legation  and  so  did  I.  In  the  afternoon 
I  took  him  to  the  Foreign  Office  and  the  War  Office  and 
the  Gendarmerie,  and  got  him  outfitted  with  passes,  so 
that  he  can  make  a  try  to  get  towards  the  front.  As 
a  measure  of  precaution  I  added  another  laisser-passer 
to  my  collection,  with  a  beautiful  photograph  on  it. 
The  collection  grows  every  day. 

I  went  to  the  Palace  to  dine  with  Palmer  and  Blount. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    75 

We  had  hardly  got  seated  when  in  walked  Richard 
Harding  Davis  and  Gerald  Morgan,  and  joined  us. 
I  had  not  expected  Davis  here  so  soon,  but  here  he  is. 
He  was  immaculate  in  dinner  jacket  and  white  hnen, 
for  war  does  not  interfere  with  his  dressing. 

While  we  were  dining,  a  lot  of  motors  came  by 
filled  with  British  officers.  There  was  a  big  crowd  in 
the  square,  and  they  went  crazy  with  enthusiasm, 
cheering  until  the  windows  rattled. 

Brussels,  August  18,  1914. — ^At  ten  in  the  morning 
I  started  with  Frederick  Palmer  and  Blount  in  the 
latter's  car,  to  see  whether  we  could  get  a  little  way  out 
of  town  and  get  a  glimpse  of  what  was  going  on.  We 
were  provided  with  laisser-passers  and  passports  and 
all  sorts  of  credentials,  but  as  a  strict  prohibition  against 
sightseers  has  been  enforced  for  some  days,  we  rather 
doubted  whether  we  should  be  able  to  get  farther  than 
the  edge  of  town.  Before  we  got  back  we  had  gone  more 
than  a  hundred  kilometers  through  the  heart  of  things  and 
saw  a  great  deal  more  than  anybody  should  be  allowed 
to  see.  We  got  back  to  town  about  eight  o'clock,  thor- 
oughly tired  and  with  eyes  filled  with  dust  and  cinders. 

Part  way  out  the  avenue  we  were  hailed  by  a  soldier, 
who  asked  us  for  a  hft  as  far  as  Tervueren.  He  climbed 
into  the  car  beside  me  and  rode  out.  The  Foret 
de  Soignes  was  mournful.  Quatre  Bras,  where  the 
cafes  are  usually  filled  with  a  good-sized  crowd  of 
bourgeois,  was  deserted  and  empty.  The  shutters 
were  up  and  the  proprietors  evidently  gone.  The 
Minister's  house,  near  by,  was  closed.  The  gate  was 
locked   and   the   gardener's   dog  was   the   only   living 


76    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  ESF  BELGIUM 

thing  in  sight.  We  passed  our  Golf  Club  a  Httle  farther 
on  toward  Tervueren.  The  old  chateau  is  closed,  the 
garden  is  growing  rank,  and  the  rose-bushes  that  were 
kept  so  scrupulously  plucked  and  trim,  were  heavy 
with  dead  roses.  The  grass  was  high  on  the  lawns; 
weeds  were  springing  up  on  the  fine  tennis  courts. 
The  gardeners  and  other  servants  have  all  been  called 
to  the  colours.  Most  of  the  members  are  also  at  the 
front,  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  servants.  A  few 
caddies  were  sitting  mournfully  on  the  grass  and 
greeted  us  solemnly  and  without  enthusiasm.  These 
deserted  places  are  in  some  ways  more  dreadful  than 
the  real  horrors  at  the  front.  At  least  there  is  life 
and  activity  at  the  front. 

Before  we  got  out  of  town  the  guards  began  stopping 
us,  and  we  were  held  up  every  few  minutes  until  we 
got  back  to  town  at  night.  Sometimes  the  posts  were 
a  kilometer  or  even  two  kilometers  apart.  Sometimes 
we  were  held  up  every  fifty  yards.  Sometimes  the 
posts  were  regulars,  sometimes  Gardes  Civiques;  often 
hastily  assembled  civilians,  mostly  too  old  or  too 
young  for  more  active  service.  They  had  no  uniforms, 
but  only  rifles,  caps,  and  brassards  to  distinguish  them 
as  men  in  authority.  In  some  places  the  men  formed 
a  solid  rank  across  the  road.  In  others  they  sat  by 
the  roadside  and  came  out  only  when  we  hove  in  sight. 
Our  laisser-passers  were  carefully  examined  each  time 
we  were  stopped,  even  by  many  of  the  guards  who  did 
not  understand  a  word  of  French,  and  strangely 
enough,  our  papers  were  made  out  in  only  the  one 
language.  Tlicy  could,  at  least,  understand  our  photo- 
graphs and  took  the  rest  for  granted. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    77 

When  we  got  to  the  first  outpost  at  Tervueren,  the 
guard  waved  our  papers  aside  and  demanded  the  pass- 
word. Then  our  soldier  passenger  leaned  across  in  front 
of  Blount  and  whispered  "Belgique''  That  got  us  through 
everything  until  midday,  when  the  word  changed. 

From  Tervueren  on  we  began  to  realise  that  there 
was  really  a  war  in  progress.  All  was  preparation. 
We  passed  long  trains  of  motor  trucks  carrying  pro- 
visions to  the  front.  Supply  depots  were  planted 
along  the  way.  Officers  dashed  by  in  motors.  Small 
detachments  of  cavalry,  infantry  and  artillery  pounded 
along  the  road  toward  Louvain.  A  little  way  out  we 
passed  a  company  of  scouts  on  bicycles.  They  are 
doing  good  work,  and  have  kept  wonderfully  fresh. 
In  this  part  of  the  country  everybody  looked  tense 
and  anxious  and  hurried.  Nearer  the  front  they  were 
more  calm. 

Most  of  the  groups  we  passed  mistook  our  flag  for 
a  British  standard  and  cheered  with  a  good  will.  Once 
in  a  while  somebody  who  recognised  the  flag  would 
give  it  a  cheer  on  its  own  account,  and  we  got  a  smile 
everywhere. 

All  the  farm  houses  along  the  road  were  either 
already  abandoned  or  prepared  for  instant  flight.  In 
some  places  the  reaping  had  already  begun,  only  to  be 
abandoned.  In  others  the  crop  stood  ripe,  waiting  for 
the  reapers  that  may  never  come.  The  sight  of  these 
poor  peasants  fleeing  hke  hunted  beasts  and  their 
empty  houses  or  their  rotting  crops  were  the  worst 
part  of  the  day.  It  is  a  shame  that  those  responsible 
for  all  this  misery  cannot  be  made  to  pay  the  penalty — 
and  they  never  can,  no  matter  what  is  done  to  them. 


78    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

^  Louvain  is  the  headquarters  of  the  King  and  his 
Etat-Major.  The  King  is  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
AUied  Forces  operating  in  Belgium,  and  is  apparently 
proving  to  be  very  much  of  a  soldier.  The  town  is 
completely  occupied  and  troops  line  the  streets,  stopping 
all  motors  and  inspecting  papers,  then  telling  you 
which  way  you  can  go.  We  were  the  only  civilians  on 
the  road  all  day,  except  the  Red  Cross  people.  The 
big  square  was  completely  barred  off  from  general 
traffic  and  was  surrounded  with  grenadiers.  We  got 
through  the  town  and  stopped  at  the  only  cafe  we 
could  find  open,  where  we  had  a  bottle  of  mineral  water 
and  talked  over  what  we  should  do  next. 

In  Louvain  there  is  an  American  theological  semi- 
nary. We  had  had  some  correspondence  with  Mon- 
seigneur  de  Becker,  its  Rector,  as  to  what  he  should  do 
to  protect  the  institution.  At  our  suggestion  he  had 
established  a  Red  Cross  Hospital  and  had  hoisted 
a  big  American  flag,  but  still  he  was  not  altogether 
easy  in  his  mind.  I  called  on  him  and  did  my  level 
best  to  reassure  him,  on  the  ground  that  the  Germans 
were  certainly  not  making  war  on  seminaries  or  priests, 
and  that  if  the  Germans  reached  Louvain,  all  he  had 
to  do  was  to  stay  peacefully  at  home  and  wait  for  quiet 
to  be  restored.  Most  of  his  students  were  gone  and 
some  of  the  faculty  had  followed  them,  so  his  chief 
concern  was  for  the  hbrary  and  other  treasures.  My 
arguments  did  not  seem  to  have  very  much  weight,  but  I 
left  with  a  promise  to  look  in  again  at  the  first  opportunity 
and  to  respond  to  any  call  the  Rector  might  make. 

From  the  seminary  we  drove  out  the  Tirlemont 
road,  to  see  if  we  could  get  to  that  httle  town  and  see 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    79 

some  of  the  fighting  that  was  known  to  be  going  on.  At 
the  edge  of  the  town  we  came  to  a  barricade  of  carts, 
road-rollers  and  cobble  stones,  where  we  were  courte- 
ously but  firmly  turned  back.  Everybody  was  anxious 
to  make  it  as  nice  as  possible  for  us,  and  one  of  the 
bright  boys  was  brought  forward  to  tell  us  in  English, 
so  as  to  be  more  convincing.  He  smiled  deprecatingly, 
and  said:  *'Verreh  bad.  Verreh  sorreh.  Oui  mus' 
mak  our  oflSce,  not.^^"  So  we  turned  and  went  back 
to  town.  They  had  told  us  that  nobody  could  go 
beyond  the  barricade  without  an  order  from  the 
Commandant  de  Place  at  Lou  vain.  On  the  way  back 
we  decided  that  we  could  at  least  try,  so  we  hunted 
through  the  town  until  we  found  the  headquarters 
of  the  Commandant.  A  fierce-looking  sergeant  was 
sitting  at  a  table  near  the  door,  hearing  requests  for 
vises  on  laisser-passers.  Everybody  was  begging  for 
a  vise  on  one  pretext  or  another,  and  most  of  them  were 
being  turned  down.  I  decided  to  try  a  play  of  con- 
fidence, so  took  our  three  cards  and  walked  up  to  his 
table,  as  though  there  could  be  no  possible  doubt  of 
his  doing  what  I  wanted.  I  threw  our  three  laisser- 
"passers  down  in  front  of  him,  and  said  in  a  business-like 
tone:  ''Trois  vises  four  Tirlemont,  S.  V,  P."  My 
man  looked  up  in  mild  surprise,  viseed  the  three  papers 
without  a  word  and  handed  them  back  in  less  time 
than  it  takes  to  tell  it.  We  sailed  back  to  the  barricade 
in  high  feather,  astonished  the  guard  with  our  vise, 
and  plowed  along  the  road,  weaving  in  and  out  among 
ammunition  wagons,  artillery  caissons,  infantry, 
cavalry,  bicyclists — ^all  in  a  dense  cloud  of  dust. 
Troops  were  everywhere  in  small  numbers.     Machine 


80    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

guns,  covered  with  shrubbery,  were  thick  on  the  road 
and  in  the  woods.  There  was  a  decidedly  hectic  move- 
ment toward  the  front,  and  it  was  being  carried  out 
at  high  speed  without  confusion  or  disorder.  It  was 
a  sight  to  remember.  All  along  the  road  we  were 
cheered  both  as  Americans  and  in  the  belief  that  we 
were  British.  Whenever  we  were  stopped  at  a  bar- 
ricade to  have  our  papers  examined,  the  soldiers 
crowded  around  the  car  and  asked  for  news  from  other 
parts  of  the  field,  and  everybody  was  wild  for  news- 
papers. Unfortunately  we  had  only  a  couple  that  had 
been  left  in  the  car  by  accident  in  the  morning.  If 
we  had  only  thought  a  httle,  we  could  have  taken  out 
a  cartful  of  papers  and  given  pleasure  to  hundreds. 

The  barricades  were  more  numerous  as  we  drew 
nearer  the  town.  About  two  miles  out  we  were  stopped 
dead.  Fighting  was  going  on  just  ahead,  between  us 
and  the  town,  and  the  order  had  been  given  out  that 
nobody  should  pass.  That  applied  to  miUtary  and 
civilians  alike,  so  we  could  not  complain,  and  came  back 
to  Lou  vain,  rejoicing  that  we  had  been  able  to  get  so  far. 

We  hunted  up  our  little  cafe  and  ate  our  sandwiches 
at  a  table  on  the  sidewalk,  letting  the  house  profit  to 
the  extent  of  three  glasses  of  beer.  We  were  hardly 
seated  when  a  hush  fell  on  the  people  sitting  near. 
The  proprietor  was  summoned  and  a  whispered  con- 
versation ensued  between  him  and  a  bewhiskered  old 
man  three  tables  away.  Then  Mr.  Proprietor  sauntered 
over  our  way  with  the  exaggerated  carelessness  of 
a  stage  detective.  He  stood  near  us  for  a  minute 
or  two,  apparently  very  much  interested  in  nothing  at 
all.    Then  he  went  back,  reported  to  "Whiskers"  and 


Types  of  Belgian  cavalrymen 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  L\  BELGIUM    81 

the  buzz  of  conversation  began  again  as  though  nothing 
had  happened.  After  a  bit  the  proprietor  came  over 
again,  welcomed  us  to  the  city,  asked  us  a  lot  of 
questions  about  ourselves,  and  finally  confided  to  us 
that  we  had  been  pointed  out  as  Germans  and  that  he 
had  listened  to  us  carefully  and  discovered  that  we 
were  nothing  of  the  sort.  "J'ai  tres  bonne  oreille  pour 
les  langues,''  he  said.  Of  course  we  were  greatly  sur- 
prised to  learn  that  we  had  been  under  observation. 
Think  of  German  spies  within  200  yards  of  the  head- 
quarters of  the  General  Staff!  (And  yet  they  have 
caught  them  that  near.)  Every  active  citizen  now 
considers  himself  a  policeman  on  special  duty  to  catch 
spies,  and  lots  of  people  suffer  from  it.  I  was  just  as 
glad  the  proprietor  had  not  denounced  us  as  spies, 
as  the  populace  has  a  quite  understandable  distaste 
for  them.  I  was  glad  the  bright  cafe  proprietor  could 
distinguish  our  hngo  from  German. 

After  lunch  we  went  down  to  the  headquarters  of 
the  General  Staff,  to  see  if  we  needed  any  more  vises. 
We  did  not,  but  we  got  a  sight  of  the  headquarters 
with  officers  in  all  sorts  of  uniforms  coming  and  going. 
The  square  was  full  of  staff  autos.  The  beautiful 
carved  Hotel  de  Ville  is  the  headquarters.  As  we 
walked  by,  a  British  Major-General  came  down 
the  steps,  returned  everybody's  salutes  and  rolled 
away — a  fine  gaunt  old  type  with  white  hair  and 
moustache — the  sort  you  read  about  in  story  books. 

After  lunch  we  found  that  there  was  no  use  in  trying 
to  get  to  Tirlemont,  so  gave  that  up,  and  inquired  about 
the  road  to  Diest.  Everybody  who  was  in  any  sort  of 
position  to  know  told  us  we  could  not  get  more  than  a  few 


82    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

kilometers  along  the  road,  and  that  as  Uhlans  were  prowl- 
ing in  that  neighbourhood,  we  might  be  potted  at  from  the 
woods  or  even  carried  off.  On  the  strength  of  that  we  de- 
cided to  try  that  road,  feeling  fairly  confident  that  the 
worst  that  could  happen  to  us  would  be  to  be  turned  back. 

As  we  drew  out  along  the  road,  the  traffic  got  steadily 
heavier.  Motors  of  all  sorts — ^beautifully  finished  limou- 
sines filled  with  boxes  of  ammunition  or  sacks  of  food, 
carriages  piled  high  with  raw  meat  and  cases  of  biscuit. 
Even  dog-carts  in  large  numbers,  with  the  good  Bel- 
gian dogs  straining  away  at  the  traces  with  a  good  will, 
and  barking  with  excitement.  They  seemed  to  have 
the  fever  and  enthusiasm  of  the  men  and  every  one 
was  pulling  with  all  his  strength.  In  some  places  we 
saw  men  pushing  heavily-  laden  wheelbarrows,  with  one 
or  two  dogs  pulling  in  front. 

From  Louvain  on  most  of  the  barricades  were 
mined.  We  could  see  clearly  as  we  passed  where  the 
mines  were  planted.  The  battery  jars  were  under  the 
shelter  of  the  barricade  and  the  wire  disappeared  into 
some  neighbouring  wood  or  field.  Earthworks  were 
planted  in  the  fields  all  along  the  lines,  good,  effective, 
well-concealed  intrenchments  that  would  give  lots  of 
trouble  to  an  attacking  force.  There  was  one  place 
where  an  important  intrenchment  was  placed  in  a 
field  of  hay.  The  breastworks  were  carefully  covered 
with  hay  and  the  men  had  it  tied  around  their  hats  in 
such  a  way  as  to  conceal  them  almost  completely. 
This  war  is  evidently  going  to  be  fought  with  some 
attention  to  detail,  and  with  resourcefulness. 

Diest  itself  we  reached  at  about  half  past  three, 
after  having  been  nearly  turned  back  six  or  seven  times. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    83 

We  were  the  only  civilians  that  had  turned  up  all  day, 
and  although  our  papers  seemed  to  be  all  right  and 
we  could  give  a  good  account  of  ourselves,  our  mere 
presence  w^as  considered  so  remarkable  that  a  good  many 
of  the  outposts  were  inclined  to  turn  us  back.  By  virtue 
of  our  good  arguments  and  our  equally  good  looks,  how- 
ever, we  did  manage  to  get  through  to  the  town  itself. 

Diest  is  an  old  town  which  figures  a  good  deal  in  the 
combats  of  the  middle  ages.  It  has  a  fine  old  church, 
quite  large,  a  good  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  clean,  Dutch-look- 
ing streets,  with  canals  here  and  there.  The  whole  town 
is  surrounded  with  high  earthworks,  which  constituted 
the  fortifications,  which  were  part  of  the  line  of  forts 
erected  by  the  allies  after  Waterloo,  as  a  line  of  defence 
against  French  aggression.  These  forts  were  so  numer- 
ous that  Belgium  in  her  younger  days  had  not  suflS- 
cient  men  to  garrison  them.  A  number  of  them  were 
abandoned,  finally  leaving  Antwerp,  Liege  and  Namur 
to  bear  the  burden.  Brialmont,  who  built  the  great 
ring  forts  at  Liege,  wanted  to  build  modern  fortifica- 
tions at  Diest,  but  could  not  get  those  holding  the 
purse-strings  to  see  things  his  way. 

Diest  was  attacked  by  Germans  about  three  days 
ago.  They  wanted  to  take  the  old  fortifications  so  as 
to  control  the  road  and  use  the  place  as  a  base  of  opera- 
tions. It  could  hardly  be  called  a  big  battle,  but  was 
more  probably  in  the  nature  of  a  reconnaissance  in 
force  with  four  or  five  regiments  of  cavalry.  This  part 
of  Belgium  is  the  only  place  on  the  whole  field  of 
operations  where  cavalry  can  be  used  and  they  are 
certainly  using  it  with  a  liberal  hand,  probably  in 
attempt  to  feel  out  the  country  and  locate  the  main 


84    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

body  of  opposing  troops.  They  have  got  into  a  lot  of 
trouble  so  far,  and  I  am  sure  they  have  not  yet  located 
the  main  bodies  of  the  allied  armies. 

The  shops  were  all  closed  and  most  of  the  people 
were  sitting  on  the  sidewalk  waiting  for  something  to 
turn  up.  Some  of  them  had  evidently  been  to  America, 
and  we  had  an  ovation  all  the  way  in.  The  Grande 
Place  was  filled  with  motors  and  motor  trucks,  this 
evidently  being  a  supply  depot.  We  had  some  of  the 
local  mineral  water  and  talked  with  the  people  who 
gathered  round  for  a  look  at  the  Angliches. 

They  were  all  ready  for  anything  that  might  come, 
particularly  Prussians.  In  the  old  days  the  Uhlans 
spread  terror  wherever  they  appeared,  to  burn  and 
shoot  and  plunder.  Now  they  seem  to  arouse  only 
rage  and  a  determination  to  fight  to  the  last  breath. 
There  was  a  little  popping  to  the  north  and  a  general 
scurry  to  find  out  what  was  up.  We  jumped  in  the 
car  and  made  good  time  through  the  crowded,  crooked 
little  streets  to  the  fortifications.  We  were  too  late, 
however,  to  see  the  real  row.  Some  Uhlans  had 
strayed  right  up  to  the  edge  of  town  and  had  been 
surprised  by  a  few  men  on  the  earthworks.  There  were 
no  fatalities,  but  two  wounded  Germans  were  brought 
into  town  in  a  motor.  They  were  picked  up  without  loss 
of  time  and  transported  to  the  nearest  Red  Cross  hospital. 

Cursing  our  luck  we  started  off  to  Haelen  for  a  look 
at  the  battlefields.  Prussian  cavalry  made  an  attack 
there  the  same  day  they  attacked  Diest,  and  their 
losses  were  pretty  bad. 

At  one  of  the  barricades  we  found  people  with  Prus- 
sian lances,  caps,  haversacks,  etc.,  which  they  were 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    85 

perfectly  willing  to  sell.  Palmer  was  equally  keen  to 
buy,  and  lie  looked  over  the  junk  offered,  while  some 
two  hundred  soldiers  gathered  around  to  help  and 
criticise.  I  urged  Palmer  to  refrain,  in  the  hope  of 
finding  some  things  ourselves  on  the  battlefield.  He 
scoffed  at  the  idea,  however.  He  is,  of  course,  an  old 
veteran  among  the  war  correspondents,  and  knew 
what  he  was  about.  He  said  he  had  let  slip  any  num- 
ber of  opportunities  to  get  good  things,  in  the  hope  of 
finding  something  himself,  but  there  was  nothing  doing 
when  he  got  to  the  field.  We  bowed  to  his  superior 
knowledge  and  experience,  and  let  him  hand  over  an 
English  sovereign  for  a  long  Prussian  lance.  I  decided 
to  do  my  buying  on  the  way  home  if  I  could  find 
nothing  myself. 

The  forward  movement  of  troops  seemed  to  be  headed 
toward  Diest,  for  our  road  was  much  more  free  from 
traffic.  We  got  into  Haelen  in  short  order  and  spent 
a  most  interesting  half  hour,  talking  to  the  officer  in 
command  of  the  village.  As  we  came  through  the 
village  we  saw  the  effect  of  rifle  fire  and  the  work  of 
machine  guns  on  the  walls  of  the  houses.  Some  of  them 
had  been  hit  in  the  upper  story  with  shrapnel  and  were 
pretty  badly  battered  up.  The  village  must  have  been 
quiteunpleasant  as  a  place  of  residence  while  the  row 
was  on.  The  conmianding  officer,  a  major,  seemed 
glad  to  find  some  one  to  talk  to,  and  we  stretched  our' 
legs  for  half  an  hour  or  so  in  front  of  his  headquarters 
and  let  him  tell  us  all  about  what  had  happened.  He 
was  tense  with  rage  against  the  Germans,  whom  he 
accused  of  all  sorts  of  barbarous  practices,  and  whom 
he  announced  the  allies  must  sweep  from  the  earth. 


86    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

He  told  us  that  only  a  few  hours  before  a  couple  of 
Uhlans  had  appeared  in  a  field  a  few  hundred  yards 
from  where  we  were  standing,  had  fired  on  two  peasant 
w^omen  working  there,  and  then  galloped  off.  Every- 
where we  went  we  heard  stories  of  peaceful  peasants 
being  fired  on.  It  seems  hard  to  believe,  but  the 
stories  are  terribly  persistent.  There  may  be  some 
sniping  by  the  non-combatant  population,  but  the 
authorities  are  doing  everything  they  can  to  prevent 
it,  by  requiring  them  to  give  up  their  arms  and  point- 
ing out  the  danger  of  reprisals. 

Before  we  moved  on,  our  officer  presented  me  with 
a  Prussian  lance  he  had  picked  up  on  the  battlefield 
near  Haelen.  We  got  careful  directions  from  him  for 
finding  the  battlefield  and  set  off  for  Loxbergen,  where 
the  fight  had  taken  place  the  day  before.  The  run 
was  about  four  kilometers  through  little  farms,  where 
the  houses  had  been  set  on  fire  by  shrapnel  and  w^ere 
still  burning.  The  poor  peasants  were  wandering 
around  in  the  ruins,  trying  to  save  odds  and  ends  from 
the  wreck,  but  there  was  practically  nothing  left.  Of 
course  they  had  had  to  flee  for  their  lives  when  the 
houses  were  shelled,  and  pretty  much  everything  was 
burned  before  they  could  safely  venture  back  to  their 
homes. 

We  had  no  difficulty  In  locating  the  field  of  battle 
when  we  reached  it.  The  ground  was  strewn  with 
lances  and  arms  of  all  sorts,  haversacks,  saddle  bags, 
trumpets,  helmets  and  other  things  that  had  been  left 
on  the  ground  after  the  battle.  There  were  a  few 
villagers  prowling  around,  picking  things  up,  but  there 
were  enough  for  everybody,  so  we  got  out  and  gathered 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    87 

about  fifteen  Prussian  lances,  some  helmets  and  other 
odds  and  ends  that  would  serve  as  souvenirs  for  our 
friends  in  Brussels.  As  everybody  took  us  for  English, 
they  were  inclined  to  be  very  friendly,  and  we  were 
given  several  choice  trophies  to  bring  back.  While 
we  were  on  the  field,  a  German  aeroplane  came  soaring 
down  close  to  us  and  startled  us  with  the  sharp  crackHng 
of  its  motor.  It  took  a  good  look  at  us  and  then 
went  its  way.  A  little  farther  along,  some  Belgian 
troops  fired  at  the  aeroplane,  but  evidently  went  wide 
of  their  mark,  for  it  went  unconcernedly  homeward. 
We  wandered  through  the  ruins  of  some  old  farms  and 
sized  up  pretty  well  what  must  have  happened.  The 
Germans  had  evidently  come  up  from  the  south  and 
occupied  some  of  the  farmhouses  along  the  road. 
The  Belgians  had  come  down  from  the  north  and 
opened  fire  on  the  houses  with  rapid-fire  guns,  for  the 
walls  were  riddled  with  small  holes  and  chipped  with 
rifle  fire.  Then  shrapnel  had  been  brought  into  play, 
to  set  the  houses  on  fire  and  bring  the  German  troops 
out  into  the  open.  Then  they  had  charged  the  Belgians 
across  an  open  field  and  apparently  with  disastrous 
results.  Part  of  the  ground  was  in  hay  which  had 
already  been  harvested  and  piled  in  stacks,  the  rest 
was  in  sugar  beets.  The  Prussians  had  charged  across 
the  field  and  had  come  upon  a  sunken  road  into  which 
they  fell  helter-skelter  without  having  time  to  draw 
rein.  We  could  see  where  the  horses  had  fallen,  how 
they  had  scrambled  to  their  feet  and  tried  with  might 
and  main  to  paw  their  way  up  on  the  other  side.  The 
whole  bank  was  pawed  down,  and  the  marks  of  hoofs 
were  everywhere.     The  road  was  filled  with  lances 


88    A  JOURNAL  FROINI  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

and  saddles,  etc.  All  through  the  field  were  new-made 
graves.  There  was,  of  course,  no  time  for  careful 
burial.  A  shallow  trench  was  dug  every  little  way — a 
trench  about  thirty  feet  long  and  ten  feet  wide.  Into 
this  were  dumped  indiscriminately  Germans  and  Bel- 
gians and  horses,  and  the  earth  hastily  thrown  over 
them — ^just  enough  to  cover  them  before  the  summer 
sun  got  in  its  work.  There  were  evidences  of  haste; 
in  one  place  we  saw  the  arm  of  a  German  sergeant 
projecting  from  the  ground.  It  is  said  that  over 
three  thousand  men  were  killed  in  this  engagement, 
but  from  the  number  of  graves  we  saw  I  am  convinced 
that  this  was  a  good  deal  overstated.  At  any  rate 
it  was  terrible  enough;  and  when  we  think  that  this 
was  a  relatively  unimportant  engagement,  we  can  form 
some  idea  of  what  is  going  to  happen  when  the  big 
encounter  comes,  as  it  will  in  the  course  of  a  few  days 
more.  It  is  clear  that  the  Germans  were  driven 
off  with  considerable  losses,  and  that  the  Belgians 
still  hold  undisputed  control  of  the  neighbourhood. 
There  were  a  few  scattered  Uhlans  reconnoitering  near 
by,  but  they  were  not  in  sufficient  numbers  to  dare 
to  attack. 

After  gathering  our  trophies  we  were  ready  to  start 
for  home;  and  it  was  well  we  should,  for  it  was  getting 
rather  late  in  the  afternoon  and  we  had  a  long  trip 
ahead  of  us  with  many  delays. 

Soon  after  leaving  Haelen,  on  our  way  back  we  met 
a  corps  of  bicycle  carabiniers  who  were  rolling  along 
toward  Haelen  at  top  speed.  The  officer  in  command 
held  us  up  and  asked  us  for  news  of  the  country  we 
had  covered.     He  seemed  surprised  that  we  had  not 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    89 

seen  any  German  forces,  for  he  said  the  alarm  had  been 
sent  in  from  Haelen  and  that  there  were  strong  forces 
of  Belgians  on  the  way  to  occupy  the  town  and  be 
ready  for  the  attack.  WTien  he  had  left  us,  we  ran 
into  one  detachment  after  another  of  infantry  and 
lancers  coming  up  to  occupy  the  httle  village. 

When  we  got  to  the  barricade  at  the  entrance  to 
Diest,  the  soldiers  of  the  guard  poured  out  and  began 
taking  our  trophies  out  of  the  car.  We  protested 
vigorously,  but  not  one  of  them  could  talk  anything 
but  Walloon — and  French  was  of  no  use.  Finally, 
a  corporal  was  resurrected  from  somewhere  and  came 
forth  with  a  few  words  of  French  concealed  about  his 
person.  We  used  our  best  arguments  with  him,  and 
he  finally  agreed  to  let  a  soldier  accompany  us  to  the 
town  hall  and  see  what  would  be  done  with  us  there. 
The  little  chunky  Walloon  who  had  held  us  up  at  the 
barrier  cHmbed  in  with  great  joy,  and  away  we  sped. 
The  Uttle  chap  was  about  the  size  and  shape  of  an 
egg  with  whopping  boots,  and  armed  to  the  teeth. 
He  had  never  been  in  a  car  before,  and  was  as  delighted 
as  a  child.  By  carefully  piecing  words  together  through 
their  resemblance  to  German,  we  managed  to  have 
quite  a  conversation;  and  by  the  time  we  got  to  the 
Grande  Place  we  were  comrades  in  arms.  I  fed  him 
on  cigars  and  chocolate,  and  he  was  ready  to  plead 
our  cause.  As  we  came  through  the  streets  of  the 
town,  people  began  to  spot  what  was  in  the  car  and 
cheers  were  raised  all  along  the  line.  When  we  got 
to  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  the  troops  had  to  come  out  to 
keep  back  the  curious  crowd,  while  we  went  in  to  inquire 
of  the  officer  in  command  as  to  whether  we  could  keep 


90    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

our  souvenirs.  He  was  a  Major,  a  very  courteous  and 
patient  man,  who  explained  that  he  had  the  strictest 
orders  not  to  let  anything  of  the  sort  be  carried  away 
to  Brussels.  We  bowed  gracefully  to  the  inevitable, 
and  placed  our  relics  on  a  huge  pile  in  front  of  the 
Hotel  de  Ville.  Evidently  many  others  had  met  the 
same  fate,  for  the  pile  contained  enough  trophies  to 
equip  a  regiment.  The  Major  and  an  old  fighting 
priest  came  out  and  commiserated  with  us  on  our 
hard  luck,  but  their  commiseration  was  not  strong 
enough  to  cause  them  to  depart  from  their  instructions. 

The  Major  told  us  that  they  had  in  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  the  regimental  standard  of  the  Death's  Head 
Hussars.  They  are  keeping  it  there,  although  it  would 
probably  be  a  great  deal  safer  in  Brussels.  Unfor- 
tunately the  room  was  locked,  and  the  oflBcer  who 
had  the  key  had  gone,  so  we  could  not  look  upon  it 
with  our  own  eyes. 

Heading  out  of  town,  a  young  infantryman  held  us 
up  and  asked  for  a  lift.  He  turned  out  to  be  the  son 
of  the  President  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  at  Charleroi. 
He  w  as  a  delicate  looking  chap  with  lots  of  nerve,  but 
little  strength.  His  heavy  infantry  boots  looked 
doubly  heavy  on  him,  and  he  was  evidently  in  a  bad 
way  from  fatigue.  He  had  to  rejoin  his  regiment 
which  was  tw^elve  miles  along  the  road  from  Diest, 
so  we  were  able  to  give  him  quite  a  boost.  He  asked 
me  to  get  word  to  his  father  that  he  wanted  to  be  given 
a  place  as  chauffeur  or  aviator,  and  in  any  other  place 
that  would  not  require  so  much  foot  work.  There 
must  be  a  lot  of  this  sort.  We  finally  landed  him  in 
the  bosom  of  his  company  and  waved  him  a  goodbye. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    91 

By  this  time  it  was  twilight,  and  the  precautions 
of  the  guards  were  redoubled.  A  short  way  out  from 
Louvain,  a  little  Walloon  stepped  out  from  behind 
a  tree  about  a  hundred  yards  in  front  of  us  and  barred 
the  way  excitedly.  We  were  going  pretty  fast  and 
had  to  put  on  emergency  brakes,  and  skid  up  to  him 
with  a  great  smell  of  sizzhng  rubber.  He  informed 
us  that  papers  were  no  good  any  more;  that  we  must 
know  the  password,  or  go  back  to  Louvain  for  the 
night.  This  he  communicated  to  us  in  his  best  Walloon, 
which  we  finally  understood.  Blount  started  to  tell 
him  that  we  did  not  know,  as  the  word  had  been  changed 
since  we  left;  but  in  one  of  my  rare  bursts  of  resource- 
fulness I  thought  to  try  a  ruse,  so  leaned  forward 
very  confidently  and  gave  him  the  password  for  the 
morning — ''Belgique''  With  a  triumphant  look,  he 
shook  his  head  and  countered:  "No,  Haelenf'  He 
had  shown  the  travellers  from  the  outside  world 
that  he  knew  more  than  they  did,  and  he  was  with- 
out any  misgivings  as  to  what  he  had  done,  and 
let  us  proceed  without  further  loss  of  time.  We  got 
all  the  way  back  to  Tervueren  with  this  password, 
which  was  all  that  saved  us  from  spending  the  night 
in  Louvain  and  getting  back  nobody  knows  when. 
Nearly  opposite  the  Golf  Club  we  were  stopped  with 
the  tidings  that  the  word  was  no  longer  good,  but 
that  if  we  had  satisfactory  papers  we  could  get  into 
tow^n.  For  some  reason  the  password  had  evidently 
been  changed  since  we  left  Louvain,  so  we  got  through 
with  rare  luck  all  along  the  line. 

We  rolled  up  to  the  Legation  a  few  minutes  before 
eight  o'clock,  and  found  that  there  was  a  great  deal 


92    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

of  anxiety  about  us.  Cheerful  people  had  been  spread- 
ing the  news  all  day  that  if  we  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Germans  they  would  hold  us  as  hostages,  as  they 
did  the  Bishop  and  Mayor  of  Liege.  They  probably 
would  if  they  had  caught  us,  but  they  did  not  catch 
us. 

Palmer  was  pleased  at  the  amount  we  saw.  It  was 
by  rare  good  luck  that  we  got  through  the  hues 
and  we  were  probably  the  last  who  will  get  so  far. 
To-day  all  laisser -passers  have  been  canceled,  and 
nobody  can  set  foot  out  of  town  to  the  east.  It  gave 
us  a  pretty  good  idea  before  we  got  through  as  to 
how  the  troops  must  be  disposed.  I  came  within  an 
ace  of  putting  off  our  trip  for  a  day  or  two.  If  I  had, 
it  would  have  cut  me  out  of  seeing  anything. 

As  usual,  when  I  go  out,  the  lid  had  blown  off  the 
Legation  and  the  place  was  in  a  turmoil.  During 
the  afternoon  the  Government  had  decided  to  move 
to  Antwerp  and  take  refuge  in  the  enceinte.  The 
Queen,  the  royal  children  and  some  of  the  members 
of  the  Government  left  at  eight  o'clock,  and  this 
morning  more  of  them  left.  Most  of  the  Diplomatic 
Corps  have  gone,  and  will  have  so  much  time  to  think 
of  their  troubles  that  they  will  be  more  uncomfortable 
than  we  are.  The  Spanish  Minister  will  stay  on  and 
give  us  moral  support. 

Brussels,  August  19, 19H. — ^Yesterday  morning  began 
with  a  visit  from  our  old  friend,  Richard  Harding  Davis, 
who  was  still  quite  wroth  because  I  had  not  waited 
for  him  to  arrange  for  his  passes  and  go  with  me  on 
my  trip.     If  we  had,  there  would  have  been  no  trip, 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    93 

as  he  was  not  equipped  until  afternoon.  After  lunch 
he  started  off  boldly  for  Namur,  but  got  turned  back 
before  he  reached  Wavre,  where  there  had  been  a 
skirmish  with  Uhlans.     He  was  sore  and  disgusted. 

"While  he  was  in  my  oflSce,  another  troop  arrived 
composed  of  Irwin  Cobb,  John  McCutcheon,  the  car- 
toonist, Lewis  and  a  few  others.  Later  in  the  day, 
Will  Irwin  came  in  with  news  that  he  was  closely 
followed  by  others.  McCutcheon  is  a  great  friend  of 
the  Minister,  and  makes  this  his  headquarters. 

The  Minister  took  them  out  to  get  laisser-passers. 
While  they  were  away,  Sir  Francis  Villiers  came  in 
and  showed  me  a  telegram  from  the  Foreign  Office, 
stating  that  British  newspapers  and  news  associations 
had  been  requested  to  recall  their  correspondents, 
as  they  had  already  done  great  harm  by  the  news 
they  had  given  out.  He  was  also  to  request  the  Bel- 
gian Government  to  refuse  permits  of  any  sort  to 
the  press,  and  get  all  foreign  correspondents  out  of 
the  country.  The  Belgian  Government  reahsed  the 
importance  of  this,  and  has  consequently  shut  down 
the  lid  tight. 

There  was  supposed  to  have  been  a  fair-sized  cavalry 
engagement  near  Charleroi,  in  which  six  regiments  of 
German  cavalry  were  chewed  up.  We  have  no  details, 
but  it  looked  as  though  they  were  lured  into  a  trap. 
Practically  no  news  of  the  operations  is  leaking  out. 
It  looks  as  though  Kitchener  had  remarked,  "We  will 
go  into  that  house  where  William  Hohenzollern  is 
breaking  the  furniture,  and  we  will  close  the  door  and 
pull  down  the  blinds,  and  when  we  get  through,  we 
will  come  out  and  tell  people  about  it." 


94    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Yesterday  was  just  a  day  of  work  with  a  great  deal 
of  beating  people  on  the  back  and  assuring  them  that 
their  lives  are  not  in  danger  just  because  the  Court 
has  gone  to  Antwerp.  They  all  seem  to  be  convinced 
that  their  throats  are  going  to  be  cut  immediately. 

This  morning  we  had  the  usual  deluge  of  newspaper 
men  and  correspondents.  The  Minister  went  off  with 
the  Spanish  Minister  to  call  on  the  military  authorities, 
who  are  the  only  ones  w^th  whom  we  now  have  any 
relations,  and  while  he  was  gone,  Sir  Francis  came  in 
and  announced  that  he  had  been  ordered  to  leave  for 
Antwerp  and  place  his  Legation  and  British  interests 
under  our  charge.  The  news  is  that  the  German  cav- 
alry in  considerable  force  is  marching  toward  Brussels. 
The  mihtary  authorities  are  getting  ready  to  defend 
the  city,  which  is  quite  a  futile  proceeding,  as  the 
available  forces  are  inadequate,  so  that  the  only  result 
will  be  that  a  lot  of  innocent  people  will  be  killed  quite 
incidentally.  The  Governor  expects  to  resist  about 
as  far  as  the  ring  of  inner  boulevards,  which  are  about 
four  blocks  farther  in  than  we  are.  Our  street  is  prob- 
ably one  of  the  principal  ones  by  which  the  Germans 
v/ould  enter.  A  hundred  yards  farther  out  there  is  a 
big  railroad  barricade,  where  a  stand  would  probably 
be  made,  so  that  our  Legation  would  undoubtedly  get 
a  fair  share  of  the  wild  shots  from  both  sides.  The 
cellar  is  being  made  ready  for  occupancy  during  the 
shindy,  if  it  comes.  The  Burgomaster  came  in  to  say 
that  he  had  a  house  prepared  for  our  occupancy  in  the 
safe  part  of  town;  but  we  were  not  prepared  to 
abandon  the  Legation  and  dechned  with  sincere  thanks 
for  his  thoughtfuhiess. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    95 

I  went  over  and  saw  Sir  Francis  and  the  Legation 
staff  just  as  they  were  leaving.  They  refused  to  have 
their  plans  upset  by  any  little  thing  like  a  German 
advance,  so  had  their  lunch  peacefully  at  the  usual 
hour  and  then  left  in  motors. 

At  seven  o'clock  Cobb,  McCutcheon,  and  the  rest 
of  the  crowd,  were  due  at  my  house,  so  I  gathered  up 
the  Minister,  the  Consul-General,  and  Blount,  and 
repaired  thither.  Davis  and  Morgan  turned  up  a  httle 
late,  but  nothing  has  been  heard  of  the  rest  of  the 
crowd  so  far — 10:30  p.  m.  They  were  to  have  dined 
here,  but  have  not  appeared  or  sent  word. 

Crowds  of  people  are  pouring  in  from  the  east  in 
all  stages  of  panic,  and  some  small  forces  of  cavalry 
have  also  retreated  into  the  city,  looking  weary  and 
discouraged.  There  has  evidently  been  a  rout.  Further 
than  that,  we  know  nothing  so  far. 

Several  of  the  wives  of  high  Belgian  officials  have 
come  in  this  evening,  having  received  word  from  their 
husbands  to  put  themselves  under  our  protection. 
There  is  nothing  we  can  do  for  them,  particularly  at 
this  time. 

Brussels,  August  20,  1914. — ^To-day  has  been  one  full 
of  experience  and  the  end  is  not  yet.  Last  night  there 
was  a  great  stir  in  the  streets,  and  crowds  of  people  and 
weary-looking  soldiers.  At  the  Palace  Hotel  I  found 
the  usual  collection  of  diplomats  and  some  other  people 
whom  I  knew,  and  from  the  crowd  I  elicited  the  fact 
that  there  had  been  some  sort  of  rout  of  Belgian  forces 
near  Louvain,  and  the  soldiers  were  falling  back.  That 
was  about  all  they  knew.     T  started  back  to  the  upper 


96    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

town  in  the  hope  of  finding  some  news  at  the  Porte  de 
Namur.  On  the  way  up  the  hill  I  was  stopped  by  half 
a  dozen  groups  of  Gardes  Civiques  and  soldiers,  who 
asked  me  to  take  them  to  Ghent.  They  were  so 
excited  and  in  such  a  hurry  that  they  could  hardly  be 
made  to  realize  that  the  car  was  not  liable  to  seizure. 
I  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  get  a  little 
first-hand  news,  and  learned  that  they  had  been  driven 
back  all  along  the  hne  and  were  ordered  to  retreat  to 
Ghent  by  any  means  they  could  find.  There  were  no 
trains  available;  nobody  seemed  to  know  why.  The 
last  group  that  I  talked  with  said  that  the  vanguard  of 
the  German  cavalry  was  only  about  fifteen  miles  out 
of  town  and  would  be  in  this  morning.  They  were  all 
tremendously  excited  and  did  not  dally  by  the  wayside 
to  chat  about  the  situation  with  me.  I  can't  say  that  I 
blame  them,  particularly  in  view  of  whatlhave  seen  since. 
At  the  Porte  de  Namur  I  found  that  the  Garde 
Civique  in  Brussels  had  been  ordered  to  disband  and 
that  the  plan  for  the  defense  of  the  city  had  been  com- 
pletely abandoned.  It  was  the  wise  thing  to  do,  for 
there  was  no  hope  of  defending  the  town  with  the  small 
force  of  Gardes  at  the  disposal  of  the  military  gov- 
ernor. It  would  have  been  quite  futile  and  would 
have  entailed  a  big  loss  of  innocent  civilian  life.  The 
governor  wanted  to  do  it  purely  as  a  matter  of  honour, 
but  he  would  have  paid  for  it  heavily  and  could  not 
have  accomphshed  anything  beyond  delaying  the  Ger- 
mans for  an  hour  or  two.  The  Garde  Civique  was 
furious,  however,  at  the  idea  of  not  being  able  to  make 
a  stand.  There  was  a  demonstration,  but  the  cooler 
heads  prevailed,  and  the  men  withdrew  to  their  homes. 


A  JOURNAL  FROINI  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    97 

I  was  out  by  seven  this  morning  and  looked  about 
for  news  before  coming  to  the  Legation.  I  found  that 
the  Germans  were  steadily  advancing  and  that  the 
vanguard  was  about  seven  kilometers  out  of  the  city. 
They  expected  to  begin  the  triumphal  march  about 
eleven.  The  Garde  Civique  had  disappeared  from  the 
streets  and  there  were  very  few  police  to  be  found. 
The  shops  were  closed,  shutters  down  on  all  houses, 
and  posters  everywhere  with  the  proclamation  of  the 
Burgomaster  urging  the  people  to  refrain  from  hostile 
acts.  It  was  an  abandoned  and  discouraged-looking 
city.  On  the  boulevards  there  were  long  lines  of  high 
carts  bringing  in  the  peasants  from  the  surrounding 
country.  They  are  great  high-wheeled  affairs,  each 
drawn  by  a  big  Belgian  draught  horse.  Each  cart  was 
piled  high  with  such  belongings  as  could  be  brought 
away  in  the  rush.  On  top  of  the  belongings  w^ere  piled 
children  and  the  old  w^omen,  all  of  whom  had  contrived 
to  save  their  umbrellas  and  their  gleaming,  jet-black 
bonnets,  piled  with  finery.  Those  who  could  not  find 
places  in  the  carts  walked  alongside,  some  of  them 
carrying  other  belongings  that  could  not  be  put  on  the 
carts.  It  was  the  most  depressing  sight  so  far.  Lots 
of  them  were  crying;  all  looked  sad  and  crushed. 
Every  one  of  them  was  probably  w^ithout  enough 
money  for  a  week's  living.  Even  those  who  have 
money  in  the  banks  cannot  get  it  out  at  this  time. 
They  have  no  place  to  go  to  here  and  have  a  bad  pros- 
pect even  if  this  part  of  the  campaign  is  finished 
quickly  and  they  are  soon  able  to  return  to  their 
homes.  Their  crops  are  rotting  in  the  ground  and 
many   of   their   homes    are    already    in   ruins.      That 


98    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

is  the  hard  side  of  the  war — ^lots  harder  than  the  men 
who  go  out  and  have  at  least  a  fighting  chance  for 
their  hves. 

WTien  I  got  down  to  the  Legation  I  found  that  the 
telegraph  and  telephone  communication  had  been  cut 
off.  The  train  service  is  abandoned  and  we  are  com- 
pletely isolated  from  the  outside  world.  I  did  not 
think  it  would  come  so  soon  and  only  hope  that  before 
we  were  cut  off  the  news  was  allowed  to  get  out  that 
there  would  be  no  fighting  in  the  city. 

I  had  a  lot  of  errands  to  do  during  the  morning  and 
kept  both  motors  busy.  I  found  time  to  get  up  signs 
on  my  door  and  that  of  M.  de  Leval,  warning  all 
comers  that  both  places  were  inviolate.  That  was  in 
anticipation  of  quartering  of  troops  on  private  citizens, 
which  has  not  been  done. 

We  got  word  that  the  Spanish  Minister  had  some 
news,  so  I  went  over  to  see  him.  He  had  heard  from 
the  Burgomaster  as  to  the  plans  for  the  entry  of  the 
troops,  and  wanted  to  pass  it  along  to  us.  The  com- 
manding general,  von  Jarotzky,  was  already  at  the 
edge  of  the  city,  on  the  Boulevard  Militaire,  and  was 
expecting  to  start  into  town  at  one  o'clock.  He  was 
to  march  down  the  Chaussee  de  Louvain,  the  boule- 
vards, and  out  the  other  side  of  the  city,  where  his 
men  were  to  be  encamped  for  the  present.  Other  forces, 
comparatively  small,  were  to  occupy  the  railway  stations 
and  the  Grande  Place.  At  the  Hotel  de  Ville  he  was  to 
establish  the  headquarters  of  the  staff  and  administer  the 
city  government  through  the  regularly  constituted 
authorities.  It  was  all  worked  out  to  a  nicety,  even  to 
the  exact  measures  for  policing  the  line  of  march. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    99 

As  the  Garde  Civique  was  withdrawn,  the  prisoners 
in  the  German  Legation  knew  that  there  was  something 
in  the  air  and  ventured  forth  into  the  Hght  of  day. 
They  were  not  long  in  learning  just  what  had  taken 
place,  and  called  upon  us  to  express  their  thanks  for 
what  we  had  done  for  them.  I  suppose  they  will  be 
trotting  away  for  their  own  country  before  there  is 
a  chance  to  lock  them  up  again.  It  must  be  pretty 
dismal  for  them  to  be  locked  up  without  any  news 
of  the  outside  world  when  they  don't  know  whether 
their  armies  are  victorious  or  badly  beaten. 

As  I  was  about  to  start  to  see  the  triumphal  entry, 
the  Spanish  Minister  came  along  with  his  flag  flying 
from  his  motor,  and  bade  us  to  go  with  him.  We  made 
off  down  the  Boulevard  and  drew  up  at  the  Italian 
Legation — two  motors  full  of  us;  the  whole  staff  of 
the  Spanish  Legation  and  ourselves.  The  Italian 
Minister  bade  us  in  to  watch  the  show,  which  we  had 
intended  he  should  do.  This  did  not  work  out  well, 
so  M.  de  Leval  and  I  started  off  down  the  street 
together.  The  first  of  the  Germans  appeared  as  we 
stepped  out  the  front  door,  and  we  saw  that  they  were 
not  coming  over  the  route  that  had  been  originally 
planned.  Instead,  they  were  heading  down  the  hill  into 
the  lower  town.  They  proved  to  be  the  troops  that  were 
to  occupy  the  Grande  Place  and  guard  the  headquarters 
of  the  staff  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  We  cut  across  through 
side  streets  and  came  upon  them  as  they  were  passing 
Ste.  Gudule.  There  was  a  sullen  and  depressed  crowd 
lining  the  streets,  and  not  a  sound  was  to  be  heard.  It 
would  have  been  better  had  the  crowd  been  kept  off 
the   streets,   but  they  behaved  wonderfully  well. 


100  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

A  large  part  of  the  reason  for  bringing  the  German 
troops  through  here  was  evidently  to  impress  the 
populace  with  their  force  and  discipline.  It  was 
a  wonderful  sight,  and  one  which  I  never  expect  to 
see  equaled  as  long  as  I  live.  They  poured  down  the 
hill  in  a  steady  stream  without  a  pause  or  a  break; 
not  an  order  was  shouted  nor  a  word  exchanged  among 
the  oflScers  or  men.  All  the  orders  and  signals  were 
given  by  whistles  and  signs.  The  silence  was  a  large 
element  of  the  impressiveness. 

These  troops  had  evidently  been  kept  fresh  for  this 
march,  and  I  should  not  be  at  all  surprised  if  it  should 
prove  that  they  had  not  seen  any  fighting.  If  they 
have  suffered  any  losses,  they  have  closed  up  their 
ranks  with  wonderful  precision  and  show  none  of  the 
signs  of  demoralisation.  They  had  clearly  been  at 
great  pains  to  brush  up  and  give  the  appearance  of 
freshness  and  strength.  Nearly  all  the  men  were 
freshly  shaven,  and  their  uniforms  had  been  brushed 
and  made  as  natty  and  presentable  as  possible.  They 
swaggered  along  with  a  palpable  effort  to  show  that 
they  were  entirely  at  home,  and  that  they  owned  the 
place.  The  officers  looked  over  the  heads  of  the  crowd 
in  their  best  supercilious  manner,  and  the  men  did 
their  best  to  imitate  their  superiors. 

First  came  some  lancers — a  couple  of  battalions,  I 
should  think;  then  there  was  a  lot  of  artillery,  rapid- 
fire  guns  and  field  pieces.  Then  more  cavalry  and  a 
full  regiment  of  infantry.  Wien  the  last  contingent 
of  cavalry  came  along,  they  burst  into  song  and  kept 
it  up  steadily.  There  was  a  decidedly  triumphant 
note,  and  the  men  looked  meaningly  at  the  crov^d,  as 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  101 

much  as  to  say:  "Now  do  you  realise  what  your  httle 
army  went  up  against  when  it  tried  to  block  us?"  It 
seemed  to  me  pretty  rough  to  rub  it  in  on  them  by 
singing  songs  of  triumph  as  they  rode  into  an  unde- 
fended city.  If  they  had  been  attacked  and  had 
succeeded  in  driving  the  invader  back  into  his  own 
capital,  it  would  be  understandable;  but  it  seemed  to 
me  rather  unnecessary  to  humiliate  these  people  after 
trampling  on  their  poor  country  and  slaughtering  half 
their  army.  It  was  more  than  de  Leval  could  stand, 
so  I  walked  home  with  him  to  the  Legation. 

When  we  got  back  to  the  Legation  I  decided  that 
I  ought  to  see  all  I  could,  so  Blount  and  I  went  back 
in  his  car.  First  we  worked  our  way  through  to  the 
lower  town  and  got  a  look  at  the  Grande  Place. 
There  were  a  little  more  than  two  full  battalions  resting 
there,  with  their  field  pieces  parked  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  square.  Small  squads  were  being  walked  around 
doing  the  goose  step  for  the  delectation  of  the  bons 
Bruxellois,  who  were  kept  a  block  away  up  the  side 
streets  leading  to  the  square.  The  men  had  their 
arms  stacked  in  the  centre  of  the  square,  and  were 
resting  hard — all  but  those  who  were  supplying  the 
spectacle. 

From  there  we  went  down  to  Luna  Park,  an  amuse- 
ment place  on  the  edge  of  the  city.  The  stream  was 
pouring  by  there  just  as  steadily  as  it  had  earlier  in 
the  afternoon.  We  watched  the  passing  of  great 
quantities  of  artillery,  cavalry  and  infantry,  hussars, 
lancers,  cyclists,  ambulance  attendants,  forage  men, 
and  goodness  only  knows  what  else. 

I  have  never  seen  so  much  system  and  such  equip- 


102  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

ment.  The  machine  is  certainly  wonderful;  and,  no 
matter  what  is  the  final  issue  of  the  war,  nobody  can 
deny  that  so  far  as  that  part  of  the  preparation  went, 
the  Germans  were  hard  to  beat.  The  most  insignificant 
details  were  worked  out,  and  all  eventuahties  met 
with  promptness.  The  horses  were  shod  for  a  cam- 
paign in  the  country,  and  naturally  there  was  a  lot 
of  slipping  on  the  smooth  cobble  pavements.  The 
instant  a  horse  went  down  there  was  a  man  ready 
with  a  coarse  cloth  to  put  under  his  head,  and  another 
to  go  under  his  forefeet,  so  that  he  would  have  some 
grip  when  he  tried  to  get  up  and  would  not  hurt  him- 
self slipping  and  pawing  at  the  cobbles.  The  moment 
he  fell,  all  hands  rushed  to  the  rescue  so  effectively  that 
he  was  on  his  feet  again  in  no  time,  and  the  pro- 
cession was  barely  arrested.  The  men's  kits  were 
wonderfully  complete  and  contained  all  sorts  of  things 
that  I  had  never  seen  or  heard  of,  so  I  turned  for 
explanation  to  Davis,  who  had  come  along  and  was 
lost  in  admiration  of  the  equipment  and  discipline. 
He  said  he  had  been  through  pretty  much  every 
campaign  for  the  last  twenty  years,  and  thought 
he  knew  the  last  word  in  all  sorts  of  equipment,  but 
that  this  had  him  staggered.  I  began  asking  him 
what  a  lot  of  things  were  for,  and  he  frankly  admitted 
that  he  w^as  as  much  in  the  dark  as  I  was. 

A  great  many  of  the  officers  wore,  upon  their  chests, 
great  electric  searchlights  attached  to  batteries  in  their 
saddle-bags.  These  are  useful  when  on  the  march  at 
night,  and  serve  to  read  sign-posts  and  study  maps,  etc. 

The  supply  trains  w^ere  right  with  the  main  body  of 
the  troops,  and  were  also  carefully  equipped  for  pur- 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  103 

poses  of  display.  The  kitchens  were  on  wheels,  and 
each  was  drawn  by  four  horses.  The  stoves  were 
Ughted  and  smoke  was  pouring  from  the  chimneys. 
The  horses  were  in  fine  shape  and  in  huge  numbers. 

The  troops  marched  down  the  right  side  of  the 
boulevard,  leaving  the  left  side  free.  Up  and  down 
this  side  dashed  ofiicers  on  horseback,  messengers  on 
motor-cycles  and  staff  officers  in  military  cars.  There 
were  no  halts  and  practically  no  slacking  of  the  pace, 
as  the  great  army  rolled  in. 

Here  and  there  came  large  motor  trucks  fitted  out 
as  cobblers'  shops,  each  with  a  dozen  cobblers  pounding 
industriously  a^vay  at  boots  that  were  passed  up  to 
them  by  the  marching  soldiers.  While  waiting  for 
repairs  to  be  made,  these  soldiers  rode  on  the  running 
board  of  the  motor,  which  was  broad  enough  to  carry 
them  and  their  kits. 

After  watching  them  for  a  while,  we  moved  back 
to  the  Boulevard,  ^vhere  we  found  the  Minister 
with  the  ladies  of  the  family  who  had  been  brought 
out  to  watch  the  passing  show.  We  had  hesitated  to 
bring  them  out  at  the  beginning  for  fear  that  there 
might  be  riots,  or  even  worse,  precipitated  by  the 
foolhardy  action  of  some  individual.  Fortunately, 
there  w^as  nothing  of  the  sort,  and  while  the  reception 
given  the  troops  was  deadly  sullen,  they  were  offered 
no  affronts  that  we  could  see.  The  entry  was  effected 
quietly,  and  perfect  order  has  prevailed  ever  since. 

Afterw ards  we  drove  out  to  the  country  and  w atched 
the  steady  stream  nearer  its  source;  still  pouring  in, 
company  after  company,  regiment  after  regiment, 
with  apparently  no  end  in  sight.     We  w^atched  until 


104  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

after  seven,  and  decided  that  the  rest  would  have  to 
get  in  without  our  assistance.  On  the  way  back  a 
German  monoplane  flew  over  the  city,  and,  turning 
near  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  dropped  something  that  spit 
fire  and  sparks.  Every^body  in  the  neighbourhood  let 
out  a  yell  and  rushed  for  cover  in  the  firm  belief  that 
it  was  another  bomb  such  as  was  dropped  in  Namur. 
It  dropped,  spitting  fire  until  fairly  near  the  spire  of 
the  Hotel  de  Ville,  when  it  burst  into  ten  or  a  dozen 
lights  like  a  Roman  candle — evidently  a  signal  to  the 
troops  still  outside  the  city — ^perhaps  to  tell  them  that 
the  occupation  had  been  peacefully  accomphshed.  We 
learned  afterward  that  the  Minister  and  Villalobar 
were  riding  down  the  hill  and  the  infernal  machine 
seemed  right  over  their  car,  giving  them  a  nice  start 
for  a  moment.  When  I  got  back  to  the  Legation, 
I  found  that  the  Minister  had  gone  with  Villalobar 
to  call  on  the  Burgomaster  and  the  German  General. 
They  found  the  old  gentleman  in  command  at  the  city 
hall,  .carrying  on  the  government  through  the  Bourgo- 
master,  who  has  settled  down  with  resignation  to  his 
task.  He  is  tremendously  down  in  the  mouth  at 
having  to  give  up  his  beautiful  Grande  Place  to  a 
foreign  conqueror,  but  he  has  the  good  sense  to  see 
that  he  can  do  more  good  for  his  country  by  staying 
there  and  trying  to  maintain  order  than  by  getting 
out  with  a  beau  geste. 

The  first  thing  the  General  did  was  to  excuse  him- 
self and  go  to  take  a  bath  and  get  a  shave,  whereupon 
he  reappeared  and  announced  his  readiness  to  proceed 
to  the  discussion  of  business. 

The  General  said  that  he  had  no  intention  of  occupy- 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  105 

ing  the  town  permanently  or  of  quartering  soldiers,  or 
otherwise  bothering  the  inhabitants.  He  was  sent 
there  to  keep  open  a  way  so  that  troops  could  be  poured 
through  toward  the  French  frontier.  They  expect  to 
be  several  days  marching  troops  through,  aad  during 
that  time  they  will  remain  in  nominal  control  of  the 
city.  Judging  from  this,  there  must  be  a  huge  army 
of  them  coming.  We  shall  perhaps  see  some  of  them 
after  the  big  engagement,  which  is  bound  to  take  place 
soon,  as  they  get  a  little  nearer  the  French  frontier. 

Brussels  has  not  been  occupied  by  a  foreign  army 
since  Napoleon's  time,  and  that  was  before  it  was  the 
capital  of  a  free  country.  It  has  been  forty-four  years 
since  the  capital  of  a  European  Power  has  had  hos- 
tile troops  marching  in  triumph  through  its  streets, 
and  the  humiliation  has  been  terrible.  The  Belgians 
have  always  had  a  tremendous  city  patriotism  and 
have  taken  more  pride  in  their  municipal  achievements 
than  any  people  on  earth,  and  it  must  hurt  them  more 
than  it  could  possibly  hurt  any  other  people.  The 
Burgomaster,  when  he  went  out  to  meet  General  von 
Jarotzky,  declined  to  take  his  hand.  He  courteously 
explained  that  there  was  no  personal  affront  intended, 
but  that  under  the  circumstances  he  could  hardly  bring 
himself  to  offer  even  such  a  purely  perfunctory  mani- 
festation of  friendship.  The  old  General,  who  must 
be  a  good  deal  of  a  man,  rephed  quietly  that  he  entirely 
understood,  and  that  under  similar  circumstances  he 
would  probably  do  the  same.  The  two  men  are  on 
exceedingly  workable  terms,  but  I  don't  believe  they 
will  exchange  photographs  after  the  war  is  over.  Poor 
Max  was  going  to  spend  the  night  at  the  Hotel  de 


106  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Ville.  Most  of  his  assistants  cleared  out  for  the  night, 
but  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  leave  the  beautiful 
old  building  entirely  in  control  of  the  enemy.  He 
curled  up  and  slept  on  the  couch  in  his  office,  just  for 
the  feeUng  it  gave  him  that  he  was  maintaining  some 
sort  of  hold  on  the  old  place. 

The  Minister  arranged  to  have  his  telegrams 
accepted  and  transmitted  without  loss  of  time,  so  we 
shall  soon  get  word  home  that  we  are  still  in  the  land  of 
the  hving.  We  wrote  out  our  message  and  sent  it  off 
right  after  dinner,  but  Gustave  brought  it  back,  saying 
that  the  telegraph  office  was  closed  and  that  he  could 
find  no  one  to  whom  he  could  hand  his  bundle  of  mes- 
sages. Evidently  the  orders  for  the  re-opening  of  the 
place  did  not  get  around  in  time  for  our  purposes.  We 
shall  try  again  the  first  thing  in  the  morning,  and  hope 
that  some  of  the  newspaper  men  will  have  succeeded 
in  getting  their  stuff  out  in  some  other  w^ay.  They 
were  around  in  force  just  after  dinner  and  wild  to  get 
an  O.K.  on  their  stuff,  so  that  it  could  be  sent.  The 
General  had  said  that  he  wanted  the  Minister's  O.K. 
on  the  men  themselves,  and  that  he  himself  would 
approve  their  messages  after  having  them  carefully 
read  to  him.  He  gave  them  an  interview  on  alleged 
German  atrocities  and  will  probably  let  them  send 
through  their  stories  if  they  play  that  up  properly. 

After  dinner  I  started  out  on  my  usual  expedition 
in  search  of  news.  I  found  the  Foreign  Office  closed, 
and  learned  upon  inquiry  that  the  few  remaining  men 
who  had  not  gone  to  Antwerp  were  at  home  and  would 
not  be  around  again  for  the  present — thus  w^e  have  no 
dealings  through  the  Foreign  Office,  but  must  do  the 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  107 

best  we  can  with  the  mihtary  authorities.  I  went 
down  to  the  Palace  Hotel  on  the  chance  of  picking  up 
a  little  news,  but  did  not  have  much  luck.  The  res- 
taurant was  half  jSlled  with  German  officers,  who  were 
dining  with  great  gusto.  The  Belgians  in  the  cafe 
were  gathered  just  as  far  away  as  possible,  and  it  was 
noticeable  that  instead  of  the  usual  row  of  conversa- 
tion, there  was  a  heavy  silence  brooding  over  the  whole 
place. 

August  21,  1914. — So  far  as  we  can  learn  we  are 
still  as  completely  cut  off  from  the  outside  world  as 
we  were  yesterday.  The  General  promised  the  Min- 
ister that  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  sending  his 
telegrams,  either  clear  or  in  cipher,  but  when  we  came 
to  sending  them  off,  it  was  quite  another  story. 

The  first  thing  this  morning  I  made  an  attempt  to 
hand  them  in,  but  found  all  the  telegraph  offices  closed. 
At  ten  o'clock  I  went  down  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville  to 
see  the  General,  who  has  taken  over  the  duties  of 
Military  Governor,  and  see  what  was  the  matter.  He 
was  av/ay  somewhere  and  so  was  the  Burgomaster,  so 
I  contented  myself  with  seeing  one  of  the  Echevins, 
whom  I  had  met  a  number  of  times.  He  could  not  do 
anything  about  it  on  his  own  responsibility,  but  made 
a  careful  memorandum  and  said  that  he  would  take 
it  up  with  the  General,  through  the  Mayor,  when  they 
both  got  back.  I  also  asked  for  laisser-passers  for 
everybody  in  the  shop,  and  he  promised  to  attend  to 
that. 

By  lunch  time  we  had  received  no  answer  from 
General  von  Jarotzky,  so  I  got  in  the  motor  with  my 


108  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

pocket  full  of  telegrams  and  went  down  to  the  Hotel 
de  Ville  once  more.  It  is  a  depressing  sight.  The 
Grande  Place,  which  is  usually  filled  with  flower  ven- 
ders and  a  mass  of  people  coming  and  going,  is  almost 
empty.  At  the  lower  end  there  are  parked  a  number 
of  small  guns;  in  the  centre,  some  camp  kitchens, 
with  smoke  rising  from  the  chimneys.  The  courtyard 
of  the  Hotel  de  Ville  itself,  where  so  many  sovereigns 
have  been  received  in  state,  was  filled  with  saddle- 
horses  and  snorting  motors.  The  discarded  uniforms 
of  the  Garde  Civique  were  piled  high  along  one  side, 
as  if  for  a  rummage  sale.  Beer  bottles  were  every- 
where. In  the  beautiful  Gothic  room,  hung  with  the 
battle  flags  of  several  centuries,  there  are  a  hundred 
beds — a  dormitory  for  the  officers  who  are  not  quar- 
tered at  the  neighbouring  hotels. 

The  marvelous  order  and  system  which  so  compelled 
our  admiration  yesterday  were  not  in  evidence.  There 
were  a  lot  of  sentries  at  the  door  and  they  took  care 
to  jab  a  bayonet  into  you  and  tell  you  that  you  could 
not  enter;  but  any  sort  of  reply  seemed  to  satisfy  them, 
and  you  were  allowed  to  go  right  up  to  the  landing, 
where  the  General  had  established  himself  in  state  at 
a  couple  of  huge  tables.  Here  confusion  reigned 
supreme.  There  were  staff  officers  in  abundance,  but 
none  of  them  seemed  to  have  the  slightest  authority, 
and  the  old  man  had  them  all  so  completely  cowed 
that  they  did  not  dare  express  an  opinion  or  ask  for  a 
decision.  The  General  himself  is  a  little,  tubby  man, 
who  looks  as  though  he  might  be  about  fifty -five;  his 
face  is  red  as  fire  when  it  is  not  purple,  and  the  way  he 
rages    about   is   enough   to   make    Olympus    tremble. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  109 

The  crowd  of  frightened  people  who  came  to  the  Hotel 
de  Ville  for  laisser-passers  and  other  papers,  all  found 
their  way  straight  to  his  office;  no  one  was  on  hand  to 
sort  them  out  and  distribute  them  among  the  various 
bureaus  of  the  civil  administration.  Even  the  staff 
officers  did  very  little  to  spare  their  chief  and  head  off 
the  crowd.  They  would  come  right  up  to  him  at  his 
table  and  shove  a  piece  d'identite  under  his  nose,  with 
a  tremulous  request  for  a  vise;  he  would  turn  upon 
them  and  growl,  '^Bas  hossihle;  keine  Zeit;  laissez  mots 

dranquille,  nom  de  D ^.'"     He  switched  languages 

with  wonderful  facility,  and  his  cuss  words  were 
equally  effective  in  any  language  that  he  tried.  Just  as 
with  us,  everyone  wanted  something  quite  out  of  the 
question  and  then  insisted  on  arguing  about  the  answer 
that  they  got.  A  man  would  come  up  to  the  General 
and  say  that  he  wanted  to  get  a  pass  to  go  to  Namur. 
The  General  would  say  impatiently  that  it  was  quite 
impossible,  that  German  troops  were  operating  over 
all  that  territory  and  that  no  one  could  be  allowed  to 
pass  for  several  days.  Then  Mr.  Man  would  say  that 
that  was  no  doubt  true,  but  that  he  must  go  because 
he  had  a  wife  or  a  family  or  a  business  or  something 
else  that  he  wanted  to  get  to.  As  he  talked,  the  Gen- 
eral would  be  getting  redder  and  redder,  and  when 
about  to  explode,  he  would  spring  to  his  feet  and  ad- 
vance upon  his  tormentor,  waving  his  arms  and  roaring 

at  him   to  get    the out   of  there.      Not  satisfied 

with  that,  he  invariably  availed  of  the  opportunity  of 
being  on  his  feet  to  chase  all  the  assembled  crowd 
down  the  stairs  and  to  scream  at  all  the  officers  in 
attendance  for  having  allowed  all  this  crowd  to  gather. 


no  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Then  he  would  sit  down  and  go  through  the  same  per- 
formance from  the  beginning.  I  was  there  off  and  on 
for  more  than  two  hours,  and  I  know  that  in  that  time 
he  did  not  do  four  minutes'  continuous,  uninterrupted 
work.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  poor  frightened  people 
and  the  general  seriousness  of  the  situation,  it  would 
have  been  screamingly  funny  and  worth  staying  indefi- 
nitely to  see. 

I  had  my  share  of  the  troubles.  I  explained  my 
errand  to  an  aide-de-camp  and  asked  him  to  see  that 
proper  instructions  were  given  for  the  sending  of  the 
telegrams.  He  took  them  and  went  away.  Then 
after  a  few  minutes  he  came  gravely  back,  clicked  his 
heels,  and  announced  that  there  was  no  telegraph  com- 
munication with  the  outside  world  and  that  he  did  not 
know  when  it  would  be  reestablished.  I  asked  him 
to  go  back  to  the  General,  who  in  the  meantime  had 
retreated  to  the  Gothic  room  and  had  locked  himself 
in  with  a  group  of  officers.  My  friend  came  back 
again,  rather  red  in  the  face,  and  said  that  he  had 
authority  to  stamp  my  telegrams  and  let  them  go.  He 
put  the  rubber  stamp  on  them  and  said  I  could  take 
them.  I  said  that  was  all  very  well,  but  where  could 
I  take  them,  since  the  telegraph  offices  were  closed. 
He  went  off  again  and  came  back  with  the  word  that 
the  office  in  the  central  bureau  was  working  for  official 
messages.  I  got  into  the  motor  with  the  Italian  Secre- 
tary, who  had  a  similar  task,  and  together  we  went  to 
the  central  bureau.  It  was  nailed  up  tight,  and  the 
German  sentries  on  guard  at  the  door  swore  to  us  by 
their  Ehrenwort  that  there  was  absolutely  nothing 
doing. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  111 

Back  we  went  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  Our  friend,  the 
aide-de-camp,  had  disappeared,  but  we  got  hold  of 
another  and  asked  him  to  inform  himself.  He  went 
away  and  we  spent  a  few  minutes  watching  the  Gen- 
eral blow  up  everybody  in  sight;  when  the  aide-de- 
camp came  back,  he  smilingly  announced  that  there 
was  no  way  of  getting  the  messages,  out  on  the  wire; 
that  the  best  thing  we  could  do  would  be  to  send  a 
courier  to  Holland  and  telegraph  from  there.  I  told 
him  to  go  back  and  get  another  answer.  When  he 
came  back  next  time,  he  had  the  glad  news  that  the 
office  had  really  been  established  in  the  post  office  and 
that  orders  had  been  sent  over  there  to  have  our  cables 
received  and  sent  at  once.  Away  we  went  again,  only 
to  find  that  the  latest  bulletin  was  just  as  good  as  the 
others;  the  post  office  was  closed  up  just  as  tight  as 
the  other  office,  and  the  sentries  turned  us  away  with 
a  weary  explanation  that  there  was  not  a  living  soul 
inside,  as  though  they  had  explained  it  a  thousand 
times  since  they  had  been  on  duty. 

By  this  time  the  wild-goose  chasing  was  getting  a 
little  bit  monotonous,  and  when  we  got  back  to  the 
headquarters,  I  announced  with  some  emphasis  to  the 
first  aide-de-camp  that  I  could  reach,  that  I  did  not 
care  to  do  any  more  of  it;  that  I  wanted  him  to  get  me 
the  right  information,  and  do  it  right  away,  so  that  I 
should  not  have  to  go  back  to  my  chief  and  report 
any  more  futile  errands.  He  went  away  in  some 
trepidation  and  was  gone  some  time.  Presently  the 
General  came  out  himself,  seething  in  his  best  manner. 

''A  qui  tout  ce  tas  de  depechesf  roars  he. 

''A  vioi,'^  says  I. 


in  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

lie  then  announced  in  a  voice  of  thunder  that  they 
were  all  wrong  and  that  he  was  having  them  rewritten. 
Before  I  could  summon  enough  breath  to  shout  him 
down  and  protest,  he  had  gone  into  another  room  and 
slammed  the  door.  I  rushed  back  to  my  trusty  aide- 
de-camp  and  told  him  to  get  me  those  telegrams  right 
away;  he  came  back  with  word  that  they  would  be 
sent  after  correction.  I  said  that  under  no  circum- 
stances could  they  send  out  a  word  over  the  signature 
of  the  American  Minister  without  his  having  written 
it  himself.  He  came  back  and  said  that  he  could  not 
get  the  cables.  I  started  to  w^alk  into  the  office  myself 
to  get  them,  only  to  bump  into  the  General  coming  out 
with  the  messages  in  his  hand.  He  threw  them  down 
on  a  table  and  began  telling  a  young  officer  what  cor- 
rections to  make  on  the  telegraph  form  itself.  I  pro- 
tested vigorously  against  any  such  proceeding,  telling 
him  that  we  should  be  glad  to  have  his  views  as  to  any 
errors  in  our  message,  but  that  he  could  not  touch  a 
letter  in  any  official  message.  At  this  stage  of  the  game 
he  was  summoned  to  the  office  of  the  Burgomaster  and 
rushed  off  with  a  string  of  oaths  that  would  have  made 
an  Arizona  cow-puncher  take  off  his  hat.  The  young 
officer  started  calmly  interlining  the  message,  so  I 
reached  over  and  took  it  away  from  him,  with  the 
statement  that  I  would  report  to  my  chief  what  had 
happened.  He  was  all  aflutter,  and  asked  that  I 
remain,  as  the  General  would  not  be  long.  I  could  not 
see  any  use  in  waiting  longer,  however,  and  made  as 
dignified  a  retreat  as  possible  under  the  circumstances. 
There  were  a  number  of  cables  in  the  handful  I  had 
carried   around   that   were  being  sent  in  the  interest 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  113 

of  the  German  Government  and  of  German  subjects, 
and  I  took  good  care  to  tell  the  young  man  that  while 
we  were  glad  to  do  anything  reasonable  for  them  or 
for  their  people,  we  had  stood  for  a  good  deal  more 
than  they  had  a  right  to  expect,  and  that  these  cables 
would  stay  on  my  desk  until  such  time  as  they  got 
ready  to  make  a  proper  arrangement  for  our  communi- 
cations. Now  we  shall  settle  down  and  see  what  hap- 
pens next. ' 

When  I  got  back  to  the  Legation  I  found  the  Argen- 
tine and  Brazilian  Ministers  and  the  Mexican  Charge 
d'Aflaires  waiting  to  hear  the  news  of  my  mission.  I 
was  rather  hot  under  the  collar,  and  gave  an  unexpur- 
gated  account  of  what  had  happened.  By  this  time 
I  was  beginning  to  see  some  of  the  humor  in  the  situa- 
tion, but  they  saw  nothing  but  cause  for  rage,  and  left 
in  a  fine  temper. 

Just  to  see  what  would  happen,  we  then  proceeded 
to  put  our  cable  in  its  original  form  into  cipher,  and 
send  it  back  to  the  General  with  a  written  request  that 
it  be  sent  immediately  to  Washington.  It  will  be 
interesting  to  see  what  reply  he  makes.  The  Spanish 
Minister  left  some  telegrams  with  him  last  night  to  be 
sent,  and  is  quite  sure  that  they  were  held  up,  as  he 
has  received  no  answers  to  any  of  them.  To-morrow 
he  expects  to  put  on  his  uniform  and  make  a  solemn 
official  call  on  von  Jarotzky  to  demand  that  he  be 
granted  free  communication  with  his  government. 

During  the  afternoon  a  lot  of  correspondents  came 
in  and  gave  an  amusing  account  of  what  the  General 
had  done  for  them.  He  had  received  them  cordially 
and  had  given  them  a  very  pleasing  interview,  making 


114  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

an  extended  statement  about  the  alleged  German 
atrocities.  Could  they  send  their  messages  through 
to  their  papers?  Certainly!  Of  course  the  General 
would  have  to  read  the  stories  and  approve  the  sub- 
ject matter.  Naturally!  The  boys  sat  down  in  great 
enthusiasm  and  wrote  out  their  stories,  giving  full 
credit  to  the  German  army  for  the  orderly  way  they 
got  in,  the  excellence  of  their  appearance  and  behaviour, 
and  the  calm  that  prevailed  in  the  city.  They  took 
these  messages  back  and  let  the  old  chap  read  them. 
He  plowed  his  way  carefully  through  them  and  ex- 
pressed  his  great  satisfaction  at  the  friendly  expressions 
of  approval.  He  put  his  O.K.  on  them  and  handed 
them  back  with  the  remark  that  they  might  send  them. 
The  boys  ventured  to  inquire  how.  "Oh,"  said  the 
General,  ''y^^  ^^^  either  send  a  courier  with  them  to 
Holland  or  to  Germany  and  have  them  telegraphed 
from  there."  Whereupon  he  rose  and,  bowing  gra- 
ciously, left  the  bunch  so  flabbergasted  that  they  did 
not  wake  up  until  he  was  gone.  He  was  most  amiable 
and  smiling  and  got  away  with  it. 

The  General  commanding  the  forces  now  coming 
through — von  Arnim — ^got  out  a  proclamation  to-day 
which  was  posted  in  the  streets,  warning  the  inhabi- 
tants that  they  would  be  called  upon  for  supplies  and 
might  have  troops  quartered  upon  them,  and  that  if 
they  ventured  upon  hostile  acts  they  would  suffer 
severely. 

PROCLAIVIATION. 

Brussels,  August  20,  1914. 
German  troops  will  pass  through  Brussels  to-day  and  the  fol- 
lowing days,  and  will  be  obliged  by  circumstances  to  call  upon 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  115 

the  city  for  lodging,  food,  and  supplies.     All  these  requirements 
will  be  settled  for  regularly  through  the  communal  authorities. 

I  expect  the  population  to  meet  these  necessities  of  war  without 
resistance,  and  especially  that  there  shall  be  no  aggression  against 
our  troops,  and  that  the  supplies  required  shall  be  promptly 
furnished. 

In  this  case  I  give  every  guarantee  for  the  preservation  of  the 
city  and  the  safety  of  its  inhabitants. 

If,  however,  as  has  unfortunately  happened  in  other  places, 
there  are  attacks  upon  our  troops,  firing  upon  our  soldiers,  fires 
or  explosions  of  any  sort,  I  shall  be  obliged  to  take  the  severest 
measures. 

The  General  Commanding  the  Army  Corps, 

SIXT  VON  ARNIM. 

The  strongest  thing  so  far  was  the  series  of  demands 
made  upon  the  city  and  Province.  The  city  of  Brus- 
sels has  been  given  three  days  to  hand  over  50  million 
francs  in  coin  or  bills.  The  Germans  also  demand  a 
tremendous  supply  of  food  to  be  furnished  during  the 
next  three  days.  If  the  city  fails  to  deliver  any  part 
of  it,  it  must  pay  in  coin  at  a  rate  equal  to  twice  the 
market  value  of  the  supplies.  The  Province  of  Bra- 
bant must  hand  over,  by  the  first  of  next  month,  450 
millions  of  francs — 90  million  dollars.  When  you  con- 
sider that  the  total  war  indemnity  imposed  by  Ger- 
many upon  France  in  1870  was  only  five  milliards,  the 
enormity  of  this  appears.  Upon  one  little  province  of 
a  tiny  country  they  are  imposing  a  tax  equal  to  one- 
tenth  that  imposed  on  the  whole  of  France.  How  on 
earth  they  are  ever  to  arrange  to  pay  it,  I  cannot 
possibly  see.  I  do  not  know  what  is  to  happen  if  they 
fail  to  make  good,  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  will  be 
something  pretty  dreadful. 


116  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

This  afternoon  the  Germans  went  into  the  Ministry 
of  War  and  the  Foreign  OfRce,  and  searched  through 
the  archives.  It  must  have  been  an  entirely  futile 
proceeding,  for  all  papers  of  any  interest  were  removed 
to  Antwerp  when  the  Government  left.  The  higher 
officials  who  were  still  here  were  kept  in  the  buildings 
to  witness  the  search — a  needless  humiliation.  There 
is  talk  now  of  a  search  of  the  British  Legation,  but  we 
have  heard  nothing  of  it  and  expect  that  will  not  be 
done  without  asking  our  permission  first. 

Brussels,  August  ^2,  19H, — ^Another  day  with  much 
to  do  and  no  great  results. 

This  morning,  at  7  o'clock,  General  von  Jarotzky 
arrived  at  the  Legation  and  was  all  smiles.  It  appears 
that  my  action,  in  making  known  my  displeasure  at 
his  behaviour  and  that  of  his  staff,  had  a  good  effect. 
We  have  heard,  from  several  sources,  that  he  blew 
up  everybody  in  sight  yesterday  afternoon  when  he 
came  out  from  the  Burgomaster's  office  and  learned 
that  I  had  departed  in  bad  temper.  He  knows  that 
nobody  dares  to  oppose  his  acts  or  views,  but  just  the 
same  he  gave  them  fits  for  not  having  made  me  stay 
and  attend  to  my  case.  Be  that  as  it  may,  he  appeared 
with  his  Chief  of  Staff,  and  sent  up  a  message  that 
brought  the  Minister  down  in  his  pajamas  and  dressing 
gow^n.  He  expressed  great  regret  for  the  "misunder- 
standing" of  yesterday  evening,  and  assured  the 
IVIinister  that  there  would  be  no  further  cause  for 
complaint  on  our  part.  He  had  in  his  hand  the  tele- 
gram which  we  had  sent  him  the  evening  before — the 
very  same  telegram  which  we  had  been  trying  to  get 


■|H 

K'% 

"'1 

'^    J 

SH 

pr 

1 

^T2 

^  hhlL./ 1 '  J 

L  it'-  'fl 

oy'    -    -      ^    a... 

H 

l**L 

/  ^^. 

H 

'mJHmi^H 

1 

Ml 

^ 

r    ■■ 

■  ■ 

u 

(H^ 

PpL    ^3-5 

-^    i« 

pt  j| 

;«i*l 

■:,iT--  .: 

-■■■  — 

-;y- 

Ty2)es  of  Belgian  cavalrymen 


Civilian  volunteers  going  out  to  dig  trenches  about  Antwerp 


^^^^^^^^^n  ^^1 

^^^^^^H" '            .^^^^^^^B 

^^^^^^P^B         '^^^^^^^^E.. 

*i^SJ 

B  fm  1          TBiW^ 

1^  c^ 

T^ 

1 

^Hk' 

--^l^**., 


^'UUi' 


if-iUz^^  /^  ^^Ic^^.,^.^^'^/^ 


Pass  issued  by  General  von  Jarotzky,  the  first  Ger- 
man commander  in  Brussels,  to  enable  Mr.  Gibson 
to  go  through  the  lines  to  Antwerp. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  117 

off  ever  since  the  German  occupation  of  the  city.  He 
had  signed  each  page  of  the  message,  and  had  affixed 
his  stamp  with  an  order  that  it  be  immediately  trans- 
mitted. He  explained  to  the  Minister  that  the  best 
thing  to  do  was  for  him  to  take  it  in  person  to  the  office 
of  the  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Telegraphs,  who  had 
already  received  instructions  on  the  subject. 

The  servants  were  thrown  into  a  perfect  panic  by 
the  arrival  of  the  Generaux,  It  took  some  argument 
to  convince  them  that  the  Germans  would  hardly 
need  to  send  two  generals  to  take  them  into  custody, 
even  if  they  had  any  reason  to  desire  them  as  prisoners. 

About  ten  o'clock  I  was  starting  to  go  down  to  the 
telegraph  office,  to  send  the  messages,  when  the  Spanish 
Minister  drove  up  in  his  big  green  car  with  the  Spanish 
flag  flying  at  the  fore.  We  told  him  our  story,  where- 
upon he  announced  that  he  also  had  telegrams  to  send 
and  that  he  would  go  with  us.  We  drove  in  state 
to  the  telegraph  office,  and  found  that  the  entrance 
which  had  been  indicated  to  us  was  the  alley  through 
which  the  mail  wagons  drive  in  the  good  days  when 
there  are  any.  Before  an  admiring  crowd,  we  descended 
and  made  our  way  among  Prussian  troopers  through 
the  noisome  alley  to  a  small  side  door,  where  we 
were  stopped  by  a  sentry  who  stuck  a  bayonet  in  our 
general  direction  and  said  we  could  go  no  further. 
I  was  immediately  thrust  into  the  foreground  as  the 
brilliant  German  scholar;  and,  limbering  up  my  heavy 
German  artillery,  I  attacked  him.  The  sentry  blanched, 
but  stood  his  ground.  An  officer  came  up  as  reinforce- 
ments, but  was  also  limited  to  the  German  tongue; 
so  I  had  to  keep  it  up,  with  two  full-grown  Ministers 


118  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

behind  me  thinking  up  impossible  things  to  be  trans- 
lated into  the  hopeless  tongue.  The  officer,  who  was 
a  genial  soul,  announced  as  though  there  were  no  use 
ever  again  to  appear  at  that  particular  place,  that 
the  instruments  had  all  been  removed,  and  that  there 
was  absolutely  no  way  of  sending  any  messages — ^no 
matter  from  whom  they  came.  We  told  him  that  we 
had  come  at  the  special  request  of  the  General  himself. 
He  replied  that  that  made  no  difference  whatever;  that 
if  there  were  no  wires  and  no  instruments,  there  was 
no  possible  way  of  sending  the  messages.  After  three 
or  four  repetitions,  the  Minister  and  I  began  to  under- 
stand that  there  was  no  use  haggling  about  it;  but 
the  Spanish  Minister  was  not  so  hghtly  to  be  turned 
aside  and  took  up  the  cudgels,  himself  bursting  into 
the  German  language.  He  stood  his  ground  valiantly 
in  the  face  of  a  volley  of  long  words,  but  he  did  not 
get  any  forrader.  Prince  Ernst  de  Ligne  came  in  with 
a  permit  from  the  General  to  send  his  messages,  and 
joined  forces  with  the  Spanish  Minister;  but  the  poor 
officer  could  only  shrug  his  shoulders  and  smile  and 
repeat  what  he  had  already  said  a  score  of  times. 
Mr.  Whitlock  and  I  began  to  laugh,  and  had  a  hard 
time  to  control  ourselves.  Finally  we  prevailed  upon 
them  to  return  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  The  Min- 
ister was  beginning  to  get  even  madder  than  he 
was  yesterday,  when  I  got  back  with  my  story  of  the 
way  I  had  spent  the  afternoon,  going  from  one  wild 
goose  chase  to  another.  We  got  the  Burgomaster  in 
his  private  office  and  placed  our  troubles  before  him. 
He  understood  the  importance  of  the  matter  and  sent 
for  the  General.     He  appeared  in  short  order,  clicked 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  119 

his  heels,  and  inquired  whether  we  had  come  in  regard 
to  the  matter  of  telegrams.  The  old  fox  knew  perfectly 
well  that  we  had,  and  was  ready  for  us.  We  had  come 
to  the  conclusion — ^which  I  had  reached  yesterday 
afternoon  and  held  all  by  myseK — that  the  old  man 
was  jockeying. 

He  listened  to  what  we  had  to  say,  and  then  said 
that  there  was  no  means  of  communication  with  the 
outside  world;  that  he  had  just  learned  it  a  few  minutes 
before.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  he  had  been 
fully  posted  from  the  minute  he  set  foot  in  the  town. 
The  Spanish  Minister  was  rather  sarcastic  about  his 
opinion  of  a  General  who  would  venture  to  occupy 
a  capital  without  being  in  possession  of  means  of 
telegraphic  communication.  The  old  soldier  was  in 
no  mood  for  argument  on  abstract  questions,  and  was 
playing  for  too  big  stakes  to  stop  and  dicker,  so  he 
passed  this  over  Hghtly  and  suggested  that  we  go 
back  and  discuss  with  the  Director-General  of  Tele- 
graphs the  possibihties  of  reestablishing  communica- 
tions. Then  the  Spanish  Minister  let  loose  on  him, 
and  announced  that  it  was  not  consistent  with  the 
dignity  of  representatives  of  World  Powers  to  spend 
their  time  standing  in  back  alleys  disputing  with 
soldiers  who  barred  the  way  and  refused  to  honour 
the  instructions  of  their  General.  He  threw  in  hot 
shot  until  the  effect  told.  He  said  plainly  that  the 
General  was  full  of  fair  words  and  promises  and  agreed 
to  anything  that  was  asked  of  him,  but  that  when 
we  went  to  do  the  things  he  had  authorised,  we  were 
baffled  by  subordinates  that  took  it  upon  themselves 
to  disregard  these  orders — ^the  intimation  being  cleverly 


120  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

conveyed  that  their  action  might  not  be  unconnected 
with  instructions  from  above.  The  old  man  then 
dropped  his  bluff,  and  asked  what  we  wanted.  We 
asked  that  he  send  for  the  Director-General,  and  give 
him,  in  our  presence,  the  instructions  and  authorisation 
necessary  to  enable  him  to  reestablish  communication 
with  the  outside  world,  and  instruct  him  to  receive 
and  send  all  official  messages  for  the  Legations  of 
neutral  Powers.  There  was  no  way  out,  short  of  flatly 
refusing  to  give  us  our  right  to  communicate  with  our 
governments,  so  the  Director-General  was  sent  for 
and  the  Burgomaster  wrote  out,  at  our  dictation,  the 
most  general  and  comprehensive  orders  to  meet  our 
wishes  in  all  matters  of  official  business.  The  General 
signed  the  order  and  instructed  the  Director-General 
to  go  ahead. 

The  Director-General  was  a  poor  soul  who  could 
see  nothing  but  technical  difficulties  in  everything 
that  was  proposed.  He  reluctantly  agreed  to  every- 
thing that  he  was  told  to  do,  and  there  is  no  telling 
when  our  stories  will  get  off.  He  told  us  that  when 
the  Germans  had  occupied  the  telegraph  bureau, 
instead  of  simply  disconnecting  the  instruments  and 
placing  a  man  there  to  see  that  communication  was 
not  reestablished,  the  officer  in  command  had  battered 
down  the  door  leading  to  the  roof  and  had  slashed  all 
the  wires  with  his  sabre.  As  there  were  three  or  four 
hundred  wires  leading  out  of  the  office,  it  will  be 
a  tremendous  job  to  get  them  all  together  again. 

We  also  took  occasion  to  arrange  for  the  issuance 
of  sauf  conduits  for  all  the  members  of  the  Legations 
and  for  such  members  of  the  foreign  colonies  under 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  121 

our  protection  as  we  care  to  vouch  for.  Food  is  getting 
very  scarce  because  of  the  enormous  demands  of  the 
Germans,  and  we  told  von  Jarotzky  that  we  should 
expect  that  he  make  arrangements  to  see  that  our 
colonies  should  not  suffer  from  the  requisitions — that 
ample  food  be  reserved  to  keep  them  all  as  long  as  it 
might  be  found  necessary  for  them  to  stay  here.  He 
agreed  to  this,  but  I  don't  see  just  how  he  is  to  arrange 
it  in  practice.  There  are  about  fifty  thousand  men 
camping  within  a  few  miles  of  Brussels,  and  another 
Army  Corps  is  now  marching  in.  The  food  for  all  the 
people  must  be  supphed  by  the  city — all  importations 
from  the  outside  world  have  been  suspended  for  days. 
It  is  a  pretty  bad  situation,  and  it  will  probably  get 
a  great  deal  worse  before  long.  I  don't  know  whether 
we  shall  get  down  to  eating  horse  and  dog,  but  it  is 
not  altogether  improbable.  That  is  one  of  these  things 
that  it  is  interesting  to  read  about  afterward. 

We  spent  nearly  two  hours  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
and  got  in  a  good  deal  of  talk  that  will  be  of  service 
to  all  sorts  of  people.  When  we  got  back,  we  found 
the  chancery  full  of  people  who  were  waiting  for  us  to 
tell  them  just  how  they  could  send  telegrams  and 
letters,  and  get  passports  and  permits  to  pass  through 
the  lines  in  all  possible  directions.  Before  leaving  I 
had  dictated  a  bulletin  which  was  posted  in  the  hallway, 
stating  that  there  were  no  communications  with  the 
outside  world  by  rail,  telegraph  or  post,  and  that  no 
laisser-fassers  would  be  granted  by  the  authorities 
until  conditions  had  changed,  and  that  the  Legation 
could  not  issue  any  sort  of  papers  which  would  enable 
people  to  leave  in  safety. 


122  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

About  four  o'clock,  McCutcheon,  Irwin  and  Cobb 
breezed  in,  looking  like  a  lot  of  tramps.  Several  days 
ago  they  had  sailed  bhssfully  away  to  Louvain  in  a 
taxi,  which  they  had  picked  up  in  front  of  the  hotel. 
A^Tien  they  got  there,  they  got  out  and  started  to 
walk  about  to  see  what  was  going  on,  when,  before 
they  could  reahse  what  was  happening,  they  found 
themselves  in  the  midst  of  a  Belgian  retreat,  hard- 
pressed  by  a  German  advance.  They  were  caught 
between  the  two,  and  escaped  with  their  lives  by 
flattening  themselves  up  against  the  side  of  a  house 
while  the  firing  continued.  When  the  row  was  over, 
they  were  left  high  and  dry  with  no  taxi — of  course 
it  had  been  seized  by  the  retreating  troops — and 
with  no  papers  to  justify  their  presence  in  Louvain 
at  such  a  time.  They  decided  that  the  best  thing 
to  do  was  to  go  straight  to  the  German  headquarters 
and  report.  They  were  received  well  enough,  and 
told  to  lodge  themselves  as  best  they  could  and  stay 
indoors  until  it  was  decided  what  was  to  be  done  with 
them.  They  w^ere  told  that  they  might  be  kept  prison- 
ers here,  or  even  sent  to  Berlin,  but  that  no  harm 
w^ould  come  to  them  if  they  behaved  themselves. 
The  order  had  gone  out  that  if  a  single  shot  was 
fired  at  the  German  troops,  from  the  window  of  any 
house,  everybody  in  the  house  was  to  be  immediately 
taken  out  and  shot.  Not  wishing  to  risk  any  such 
unpleasant  end,  they  rented  all  the  front  rooms 
of  a  house  and  spread  themselves  through  all  the 
rooms,  so  that  they  could  be  sure  that  nobody  did 
any  slaughtering  from  their  house.  They  were  there 
for  three  days,  and  were  told  to-day  that  they  might 


it  ^HHBIB^^B 

Wli: 

-^      /i^bS^'^S.^ 

't7rjgffi;;-|^P^ 

. 

A  Belgian  machine  gun  battery  drawn  by  dogs 


Types  of  Belgian  infantrymen 


King  Albert  and  General  von  Emmich  who  commanded  the  Ger- 
man troops  at  Liege.  Taken  in  1913  when  General  von  Emmich 
came  to  Liege  on  a  visit  of  courtesy. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  123 

take  themselves  hence.  They  came  back  to  Brussels 
in  the  same  clothes  that  they  had  worn  for  the  past 
three  days,  unshaven  and  dirty.  When  they  drove 
up  to  the  front  door  this  afternoon,  they  were  nearly 
refused  admittance  as  being  too  altogether  disrepu- 
table. 

This  evening,  when  I  went  to  see  my  old  friend  the 
General,  just  before  dinner,  he  told  me  that  he  had 
had  news  of  a  great  battle  near  Metz,  in  which  the 
French  army  had  been  cut  off  and  practically  destroyed, 
w4th  a  loss  of  45,000  prisoners.  It  sounds  about  as 
probable  as  some  of  the  other  yarns.  In  view  of  the 
fact  that  my  friend  had  no  telegraphic  communication, 
I  was  curious  to  know  where  he  got  his  information, 
but  my  gentle  queries  did  not  bring  forth  any  news  on 
that  point. 

The  Germans  now  expect  to  establish  themselves 
for  some  time  here  in  Brussels.  They  are  going  to 
occupy  the  various  governmental  departments,  and 
it  is  quite  possible  that  for  some  time  w^e  shall  have 
to  deal  exclusively  with  them.  The  Government  to 
which  we  are  accredited  has  faded  away,  and  we  are 
left  here  with  a  condition  and  not  a  theory.  We  shall 
have  to  deal  with  the  condition,  and  I  am  not  at  all 
sure  that  the  condition  will  not  require  some  pretty 
active  dealing  with.  Functionaries  are  to  be  brought 
from  Berlin  to  administer  the  various  departments, 
so  that  it  is  evidently  expected  that  the  occupation 
is  not  to  be  of  a  temporary  character. 

Later. — After  writing  the  foregoing,  I  went  upstairs 
and  listened  to  some  of  the  tales  of  the  four  people 


124  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

who  were  tied  up  at  Lou  vain.  Now  that  they  are  safely 
out  of  it,  they  can  see  the  funny  side  of  it,  but  it  was 
certainly  pretty  dangerous  while  it  lasted.  Monsieur 
de  Leval  is  overcome  with  admiration  for  their  sang- 
froid, and  marvels  at  the  race  of  men  we  breed. 

They  seem  to  have  made  themselves  solid  with  the 
Germans  before  they  had  been  there  long;  it  would 
be  hard  for  anybody  to  resist  that  crowd  any  length  of 
time.  Of  course  they  never  saw  their  taxi  again  after 
getting  out  to  scout  for  the  battle,  and  whenever  the 
Major  who  had  the  duty  of  keeping  them  under  surveil- 
lance came  to  take  a  look  at  them,  Cobb  would  work  up 
a  sob-shaken  voice  and  plead  for  liberty  and  permission 
to  return  to  Brussels.  He  was  always  at  some  pains 
to  explain  that  it  was  not  his  life  he  was  worrying 
about,  but  the  haunting  thought  of  that  taxi  running 
up  at  the  rate  of  fifty  centimes  every  three  minutes. 
After  a  while  he  got  the  Major's  funny  bone  located, 
and  then  all  was  well.  He  so  completely  got  into  the 
officer's  good  graces  that  he  promised  to  send  us  word 
that  they  were  safe  and  well, — and  then  failed  to  do 
so. 

While  the  Germans  occupied  the  city,  all  inhabitants 
were  required  to  be  indoors  by  eight  o'clock;  a  light 
had  to  be  kept  in  every  window,  and  the  blinds  left 
open,  so  that  any  one  moving  could  be  clearly  seen  from 
the  street.  The  windows  themselves  were  to  be  closed. 
Dosch  said  he  woke  up  about  four  o'clock  one  morn- 
ing with  his  head  splitting;  the  lamp  was  smoking  and 
the  air  vile  with  smoke  and  smell.  He  decided  he 
would  prefer  to  be  shot  than  die  of  headache,  so 
dehberately   got   up   and    opened   his    window.     The 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  125 

story  loses  its  point  by  the  fact  that  after  violating 
this  strict  rule,  he  was  not  taken  out  and  shot. 

They  said  it  was  really  pretty  dreadful.  From  their 
window,  they  saw,  every  little  while,  a  group  of  soldiers 
lead  some  poor  frightened  Belgian  to  a  little  cafe 
across  the  street;  several  officers  were  sitting  at  one 
of  the  tables  on  the  sidewalk,  holding  a  sort  of  drum- 
head court  martial.  While  they  were  examining  the 
case,  a  squad  would  be  marched  around  behind  the 
railroad  station.  A  few  minutes  later  the  prisoner 
would  be  marched  around  by  another  way,  and  in 
a  few  minutes  there  would  be  a  volley  and  the  troops 
would  be  marched  back  to  their  post;  then,  after  a 
little  while,  a  stretcher  would  be  brought  out  with  a 
body  in  civilian  clothes,  a  cloth  over  the  face.  Some 
of  the  prisoners  were  women,  and  there  were  screams 
before  the  shots  were  fired.  It  must  have  been  a 
dreadful  ordeal  to  go  through. 

Brussels,  August  21,  19H. — The  day  after  my  last 
entry  I  started  on  a  trip  to  Antwerp,  got  through  the 
lines  and  managed  to  wriggle  back  into  Brussels  last 
night  after  reestablishing  telegraph  communication  with 
the  Department  and  having  a  number  of  other  things 
happen  to  and  around  about  me. 

All  I  can  remember  now  of  the  23d  is  that  it  was  a 
Sunday,  and  that  we  could  hear  cannonading  all  day 
long  from  the  east.  It  was  hard  to  tell  just  where  it 
came  from,  but  it  was  probably  from  the  direction 
of  Wavre  and  Namur.  It  was  drizzly  all  day.  The 
German  troops  continued  to  pour  through  the  city. 
From  time   to  time,  during  the  last  few  days,  their 


126  A  JOURNAL  FROIM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

march  has  been  interrupted  for  a  couple  of  hours 
at  a  time,  apparently  as  a  result  of  a  determined 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  French  and  English 
to  stop  the  steady  flow  of  troops  toward  the  French 
frontier.  Each  time  we  could  hear  the  booming  of  the 
cannon,  the  deep  voices  of  the  German  guns  and  the 
sharp,  dry  bark  of  the  French.  At  night  we  have 
seen  the  searchhghts  looking  for  the  enemy  or  flashing 
signals.  Despite  the  nearness  of  all  this  fighting  and 
the  sight  of  the  wounded  being  brought  in,  the  streets 
barred  off  to  keep  the  noisy  traflSc  away  from  the 
hospitals,  and  all  the  other  signs  of  war,  it  has  still 
been  hard  to  realize  that  it  was  so  near  us. 

Our  little  German  General,  von  Jarotzky,  has  kept 
clicking  his  heels  together  and  promising  us  anything 
we  chose  to  ask.  We  have  run  around  day  after  day 
with  our  telegrams,  and  not  one  has  got  farther  than 
the  Hotel  de  Ville.  Being  naturally  somewhat  touchy, 
we  got  tired  of  this  after  a  few  days,  and  decided  that 
the  only  way  to  get  any  news  to  Washington  was  for 
me  to  go  to  Antwerp  and  get  into  direct  communication 
over  the  cable  from  there.  We  got  our  telegrams  ready 
and  made  a  last  try  on  the  General  Monday  morning. 
He  was  still  effusively  agreeable  and  assured  us  that 
he  had  determined  to  place  a  military  field  wire  at 
our  disposal  so  that  we  could  communicate  with 
Washington  via  Berlin.  Our  previous  experiences  had 
made  us  suspicious,  so  it  was  decided  that  while 
depositing  our  messages  here,  I  would  make  a  try  at 
getting  through  the  lines  and  send  whatever  I  thought 
best  from  Antwerp  or  any  other  place  I  could  reach. 
We  told  the  General  frankly  what  we  intended  to  do. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  127 

and  he  was  all  smiles  and  anxiety  to  please.  At  our 
request  he  had  an  imposing  passport  made  out  for 
me,  signed  with  his  hand  and  authorized  with  his  seal. 
The  Burgomaster  wrote  out  an  equally  good  letter  for 
us  when  we  reached  the  Belgian  lines.  Providence 
was  to  take  care  of  us  while  we  were  between  the  lines, 
and,  just  to  make  it  unanimous.  He  did. 

We  wanted  to  get  away  during  the  morning,  but  one 
thing  after  another  came  up  and  I  was  kept  on  the 
jump.  We  had  to  stop  and  worry  about  our  news- 
paper correspondents,  who  have  wandered  ofiF  again. 
Morgan  came  sauntering  in  during  the  morning  and 
announced  that  he  and  Davis  had  set  out  on  foot  to 
see  whether  there  was  any  fighting  near  Hal;  they  had 
fallen  in  with  some  German  forces  advancing  to^vard 
Mons.  After  satisfying  themselves  that  there  was 
nothing  going  on  at  Hal  or  Enghien,  Morgan  decided 
that  he  had  had  enough  walking  for  one  day,  and  was 
for  coming  home.  Davis  felt  that  they  were  too  near 
the  front  to  give  up,  and  with  a  Sherlock  Holmes 
sagacity  announced  that  if  they  stuck  to  these  German 
troops,  they  would  succeed  in  locating  the  French  and 
British  armies.  Morgan  thought  this  so  probable  that 
he  was  all  for  coming  back,  and  left  Davis  tramping 
along  behind  an  ammunition  wagon  in  search  of  adven- 
ture.    He  found  it. 

After  getting  out  of  their  trouble  at  Louvain, 
McCutcheon,  Cobb  and  Lewis  set  forth  on  another 
adventure.  There  are,  of  course,  no  motor  cars  or 
carriages  to  be  had  for  love  or  money,  so  they  invested 
in  a  couple  of  aged  bicycles  and  a  donkey  cart.  Cobb, 
who  weighs  far  above  standard,  perched  gracefully  on 


128  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

top  of  the  donkey  cart,  and  the  other  two  pedalled 
alongside  on  their  wheels.  They  must  have  been  a 
funny  outfit,  and  at  last  accounts  were  getting  along 
in  good  style.  The  air  is  filled  with  nervousness,  how- 
ever, and  there  is  a  constantly  increasing  Hst  of  people 
who  are  being  thrown  into  jail,  or  shot  as  spies,  and 
there  is  little  time  for  careful  and  painstaking  trials  for 
wanderers  who  are  picked  up  inside  the  fines  of  the 
fighting  armies  and  are  unable  to  render  a  convincing 
account  of  themselves.  I  shall  be  rather  uncomfort- 
able about  them  until  they  reappear. 

While  we  were  waiting  for  the  final  formaUties  for 
our  trip  to  be  accomphshed,  I  invested  in  a  wrist 
watch  and  goggles.  We  also  bought  a  fuzzy  animal 
like  a  Teddy  bear,  about  three  inches  high,  and  tied 
him  on  the  radiator  as  a  mascot.  He  made  a  hit  with  all 
hands  and  got  a  valuable  grin  from  several  forbidding- 
looking  Germans.  We  had  signs  on  the  car  fore  and 
aft,  marking  it  as  the  car  of  the  American  Legation, 
the  signs  being  in  both  French  and  German.  As  we 
were  the  first  to  try  to  make  the  trip,  we  thought  it 
up  to  us  to  neglect  nothing  that  would  help  to  get  us 
through  without  any  unpleasant  shooting  or  bayonet- 
ing. 

After  formally  filing  all  our  telegrams  with  the  Ger- 
man General,  Blount  and  I  got  under  way  at  half -past 
two.  We  pulled  out  through  the  northern  end  of  the 
city,  toward  Vilvorde.  There  were  German  troops  and 
supply  trains  all  along  the  road,  but  we  were  not 
stopped  until  we  got  about  half  way  to  Vilvorde. 
Then  we  heard  a  loud  roar  from  a  field  of  cabbages  we 
were  passing   and,   looking   around,   discovered   what 


Bruxelles,   le  24  Septeolzre  1914. 


Le  Bourgmeetre  de  Bruxellee,  prie  les  Autoylteo  BAgea 
de  bien  voaloir  laiaeer  passer  Ifoneieur  Hugh  S,   Olbeon,    So- 
oretaire  de  la  Legation  dee  Jt^te-Unis   d'Amerique,    accompagne 
de  son  chauffeur. 

IL.  H.   8.   Oibeon  eet   charg^  d*une  alesion  officielle. 

Ls  Bourgmeetre, 


Vu  au  Constilat  de  Belgique 
&  ROOSENDAAL  (P.B.) 

LE  CONSUL  DE  BELGIQUE 

-- ^^^^^^*<=»'-»^-^   ^-^^^^>/C:^    ^a£^^«>-rjJ\^  j^^^.,^^^:z^^^'r  -^'r?:*-*' 


Letter  signed  by  Burgomaster  Max  requesting  the  Belgian  au- 
thorities to  allow  Mr.  Gibson  to  pass  through  the  lines  on  his 
way  to  Antwerp.  This  was  one  of  the  last  documents  signed 
by  the  Burgomaster  before  he  was  sent  to  Germany  as  a 
prisoner  of  war. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  129 

looked  like  a  review  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias.  A  mag- 
nificent-looking man  on  horseback,  wearing  several 
orders,  surrounded  by  a  staff  of  some  ten  or  twelve 
others,  was  riding  toward  us  through  the  cabbages, 
waving  angrily  at  us  to  stop.  The  whole  crowd  sur- 
rounded the  car  and  demanded  hotly  how  we  dared 
venture  out  of  town  by  this  road.  While  they  were 
industriously  blowing  us  up,  the  Supreme  Potentate 
observed  the  sign  on  the  front  of  the  car,  gesandt- 

SCHAFT  DER  VEREINIGTEN  STAATEN,  whcrCUpon  he  Came 

straightway  to  salute  and  kept  it  up.  The  others  all 
saluted  most  earnestly  and  we  had  to  unHmber  and 
take  off  our  hats  and  bow  as  gracefully  as  we  could, 
all  hunched  up  inside  a  Uttle  racing  car.  Then  I 
handed  out  our  pass,  which  the  chief  of  staff  read  aloud 
to  the  assembled  notables.  They  were  all  most  amiable, 
warned  us  to  proceed  with  great  caution,  driving  slowly, 
stopping  every  hundred  yards,  and  to  tear  back  toward 
town  if  popping  began  in  our  immediate  neighbour- 
hood. They  were  so  insistent  on  our  not  getting  in 
the  way  of  bullets  that  I  had  to  assure  them,  in  my 
best  rusty  German,  that  we  were  getting  into  this 
ragged  edge  of  their  old  war  simply  because  it  was 
necessary  for  business  reasons  and  not  because  of  any 
ardent  desire  to  have  holes  shot  through  us.  They  all 
laughed  and  let  us  go  our  way  with  a  final  caution. 
From  that  time  on  we  were  in  the  midst  of  German 
patrols.  We  religiously  observed  the  officers'  advice 
to  drive  slowly  and  keep  a  lookout.  Five  minutes 
later  we  began  to  meet  peasants  running  away  from 
their  homes  in  the  direction  of  Brussels.  They  reported 
fighting  near  Malines,  and  said  that  we  were  running 


130  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

straight  into  it.  They  were  a  badly  frightened  lot.  We 
decided  that  the  only  thing  to  do  was  to  go  ahead, 
feeling  our  way  carefully,  and  come  back  or  wait  if 
things  got  too  hot  for  us.  We  were  stopped  several 
times  by  troops  crossing  the  road  to  get  into  trenches 
that  were  already  prepared,  and  once  had  to  wait 
while  a  big  gun  w  as  put  in  place.  It  was  a  ticklish  busi- 
ness to  come  around  a  turn  in  the  road  and  light  on  a 
hundred  men  sneaking  along  behind  a  hedge  with  their 
rifles  ready  for  instant  action.  Just  beyond  Eppeghem 
we  met  a  troop  of  cavalry  convoying  a  high  cart  filled 
with  peasants,  who  had  evidently  been  taken  prisoners. 
The  officer  in  charge  was  a  nervous  chap,  who  came 
riding  at  us,  brandishing  his  revolver,  which  he  had 
tied  to  the  pommel  of  his  saddle  with  a  long  cord.  He 
was  most  indignant  that  we  had  been  allowed  to  come 
this  far  and  reluctantly  admitted  that  our  pass  was 
good.  All  the  time  he  talked  with  us,  and  told  us  of 
the  skirmishing  ahead,  he  kept  waving  that  large  blun- 
derbuss in  our  faces.  I  tried  a  little  humour  on  him 
by  saying,  as  nearly  as  the  unwieldy  structure  of  the 
German  tongue  would  permit:  "Please  point  that  thing 
the  other  way;  you  can  never  tell  when  it  may  go  off 
and  hurt  somebody."  He  was  quite  solemn  about  it, 
however,  and  assured  us  that  he  had  perfect  control 
over  it,  emphasising  his  remarks  by  shaking  it  under 
our  noses.  I  was  glad  to  get  out  of  his  range,  for  I 
verily  believe  that  if  somebody  had  shouted  boo!  he 
w  ould  have  let  that  gun  off  with  a  bang. 

The  German  officers  we  talked  with  from  time  to 
time  said  that  the  Belgians  were  advancing,  and  that 
several  skirmishes  had  taken  place;  that  a  big  engage- 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  131 

ment  was  expected  during  the  night  or  in  the  morn- 
ing. We  passed  the  last  of  the  German  outposts  about 
two  miles  this  side  of  Malines,  but  for  fear  we  might  tell 
on  them,  they  would  not  tell  us  whether  we  had  any 
more  of  their  kind  ahead  of  us.  We  shot  along  through 
the  open  country,  between  the  last  Germans  and  the 
edge  of  Malines,  at  a  fairly  good  rate,  and  kept  a  look- 
out for  the  English  flag,  which  we  had  been  given  to 
understand  was  flying  from  the  tower  of  the  Cathedral. 
That  is  what  we  had  been  given  to  understand  in  Brus- 
sels, but  along  the  road  they  were  very  noncommittal 
about  the  whereabouts  of  the  British  troops.  When 
we  finally  did  get  a  clear  view  of  the  Cathedral  spires, 
we  saw  the  Belgian  flag  standing  straight  out  in  the 
good  breeze  that  was  blowing,  and  while  that  showed 
that  the  English  troops  had  not  taken  over  the  place, 
it  at  least  convinced  us  that  the  Germans  were  behind 
us.  As  we  drove  through  the  little  suburb  on  this  side 
of  the  canal  which  runs  through  the  edge  of  the  town, 
we  found  that  all  the  houses  were  battened  up  tight. 
One  lone  man,  who  came  out  from  a  Httle  cafe,  told 
us  that  the  Germans  had  been  through  about  fifteen 
minutes  before,  and  had  shot  up  the  town,  until  they 
were  driven  off  by  a  small  force  of  Belgian  cavalry 
which  had  appeared  from  nowhere  and  had  as  quickly 
gone  back  to  the  same  place.  Not  knowing  what 
forces  were  ready  to  start  in  again  on  short  notice,  all  the 
inhabitants  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  have  cellars 
were  hiding  in  them,  and  the  rest  were  trying  to  get  into 
town  as  best  they  could,  leaving  their  belongings. 

When   we   reached   the   canal,   we   found   that   the 
drawbridge  had  been  taken  up,  and  that  there  was  no 


132  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

way  to  get  across.  There  were  a  few  gendarmes  on 
the  other  side,  and  a  few  carts  on  our  side  of  the  canal. 
All  were  anxious  to  get  across,  but  the  Burgomaster 
had  ordered  traffic  suspended  until  things  had  quieted 
down.  We  prevailed  upon  a  genial  gendarme  to  run 
back  and  get  orders  to  govern  our  special  case.  After 
waving  our  credentials  and  showing  how  much  in- 
fluence we  had  with  the  local  administration,  we 
were  quite  popular  with  the  panic-stricken  peasants 
who  wanted  to  get  into  town.  Orders  came  very  soon, 
and  we  made  straight  for  the  Hotel  de  Ville  to  thank 
the  Burgomaster  for  letting  us  in,  and  also  to  pick 
up  any  news  he  had  as  to  conditions.  We  did  not  get 
any  great  amount,  however,  as  he  could  not  get  over 
the  fact  that  w^e  had  come  straight  through  from 
Brussels  without  having  been  shot  by  the  German 
or  the  Belgian  patrols,  who  were  out  with  orders  to 
pick  up  strays  like  us.  W^e  tried  several  times  to  get 
information  out  of  him,  but  he  could  do  nothing  but 
marvel  at  our  luck,  and  above  all  at  our  prouesse,  which 
left  him  quite  bowled  over.  We  gave  him  up  and  went 
our  way.  He  has  had  other  things  to  marvel  about 
since. 

Not  far  out  of  Malines,  we  ran  into  the  first  Belgian 
outpost.  When  we  were  about  fifty  yards  from  them, 
they  surged  across  the  road  and  began  brandishing 
rifles,  swords,  lances — a  veritable  armory  of  deadly 
weapons.  Blount  put  on  the  emergency  brakes,  and 
we  were  bracing  for  quick  and  voluble  explanations 
when  we  saw  that  they  were  all  grinning  broadly  and 
that  each  one  was  struggling  to  get  our  particular 
attention.     W^e  had  our  laisser -passers  in  our  hands. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  133 

and  waved  them  in  the  air.  No  one  would  pay  the 
slightest  heed  to  them.  From  the  hubbub  that  was 
seething  about  our  ears,  we  learned  that  ten  minutes 
or  so  before  they  had  finished  a  little  brush  with  the 
Germans,  and  that  the  articles  they  had  been  waving 
in  our  faces  were  the  trophies  of  the  combat.  Each 
fellow  was  anxious  to  show  us  what  he  had  taken,  and 
to  tell  just  how  he  had  done  it.  They  seemed  to  take 
it  for  granted  that  we  were  friends  and  would  enjoy 
the  sight,  and  share  their  delight.  One  of  the  boys — 
a  chap  about  eighteen — ^held  aloft  a  huge  pair  of 
cavalry  boots  which  he  had  pulled  off  a  German  he 
had  killed.  It  was  a  curious  mixture  of  childish  pride 
and  the  savage  rejoicing  of  a  Fiji  Islander  with  a  head 
he  has  taken.  We  admired  their  loot  until  they  were 
satisfied,  and  then  prevailed  upon  them  to  look  at  our 
papers,  which  they  did  in  a  perfunctory  way.  Then, 
after  shaking  hands  all  round,  they  sent  us  on  with 
a  cheer.  We  were  hero-curiosities  as  the  first  civilians 
who  had  got  through  from  the  German  lines  since  the 
occupation  of  Brussels.  And  perhaps  we  were  not 
glad  to  be  safely  inside  the  Belgian  lines!  It  was 
nervous  work  that  far,  but  once  inside  we  found  every- 
body friendly  and  got  through  without  any  trouble, 
although  we  were  stopped  every  kilometer  or  so.  Soon 
after  we  passed  the  first  outposts,  we  began  passing 
Belgian  troops  advancing  toward  Malines  in  large 
force.  They  seemed  in  good  spirits  and  ready  for 
anything.  Our  position  here  has  gone  steadily  up  since 
the  beginning  of  the  hostilities,  and  everywhere  we 
went,  the  flag  was  cheered  and  we  got  a  warm  welcome. 
This  forward  movement  of  the  troops  was  a  part  of 


134  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

a  concerted  operation  by  which  the  Belgians  were  to 
attempt  to  push  through  to  Brussels  while  the  main 
German  army  was  engaged  in  attacking  Mons  and 
Charleroi. 

About  twelve  kilometers  out  of  Antwerp,  we  were 
stopped  at  a  little  house  and  asked  if  we  would  take 
a  wounded  man  into  town  to  the  hospital.  He  had 
been  shot  through  the  hand  and  was  suffering  from 
shock  and  loss  of  blood,  but  was  able  to  chew  on  a  huge 
chunk  of  bread  all  the  way  into  town.  He  had  no 
interest  in  anything  else,  and,  after  trying  one  or  two 
questions  on  him,  I  let  him  alone  and  watched  the 
troops  we  were  passing — an  unbroken  line  all  the  way 
in.  The  main  Belgian  army  and  a  lot  of  the  Garde 
Civique  were  inside  the  ring  of  forts  and  were  all 
being  put  on  the  road  with  full  contingents  of  supply 
wagons,  ambulances,  and  even  the  dog  artillery.  These 
little  chaps  came  tugging  along  the  road  and  turned 
their  heads  to  bark  at  us  with  enthusiasm. 

For  a  mile  or  so  outside  the  enceinte,  which  has  been 
thrown  up  around  the  town,  the  roads  are  heavily 
mined,  and  small  red  flags  planted  between  the  cobbles 
to  warn  passers-by  to  tread  gently  and  gingerly.  We 
did  not  require  the  urging  of  the  sentries  to  make  us 
proceed  with  caution  over  these  places,  which  were  so 
delicately  mined  that  heavy  carts  were  not  allowed  to 
pass.  I  breathed  more  easily  when  we  were  once  out 
of  this. 

We  found  the  military  hospital  and  handed  over  our 
wounded  soldier  to  the  attendants,  who  bundled  him 
inside  and  then  rushed  back  to  hear  what  we  could 
tell  them.     They   had   not  heard   a   word   from   the 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  135 

outside  world — or  rather  from  our  part  of  the  outside 
world — since  the  withdrawal  of  the  Belgian  army  to 
Antwerp,  and  they  greeted  us  as  they  would  greet 
fellow-beings  returning  from  a  journey  to  Mars.  They 
had  a  few  newspapers  which  were  being  published  in 
Antwerp,  and  handed  them  over  to  us,  we  being  as 
anxious  as  they  for  the  news  that  we  had  not  been 
able  to  get. 

From  the  hospital  we  drove  to  the  Hotel  St.  Antoine 
and  asked  for  rooms.  The  proprietor  was  very  sus- 
picious of  us,  and  we  had  a  tremendous  time  con- 
vincing him  that  there  was  nothing  the  matter  with 
us.  He  knew  that  we  could  not  have  come  from 
Brussels,  as  nobody  had  been  able  to  make  the  trip. 
Our  papers  were  en  regie,  but  that  made  no  difference. 
German  spies  and  other  suspicious  characters  had 
managed  to  get  forged  papers  before  that.  For- 
tunately, all  the  other  diplomats  were  Hving  in  the 
hotel,  and  I  asked  that  he  hunt  up  some  of  them 
and  verify  what  we  had  to  say  for  ourselves.  Webber, 
of  the  British  Legation,  was  brought  out  and  acted  as 
though  he  had  seen  a  ghost.  He  calmed  down  enough 
to  assure  the  proprietor  that  we  were  respectable 
citizens,  and  that  he  could  safely  give  us  rooms.  All 
the  other  people  were  away  from  the  hotel  for  the 
moment,  so  we  deposited  our  things  in  our  room,  and 
made  for  the  Consulate-General.  It  was  then  half -past 
six,  and  the  Consul-General  had  gone  for  the  day. 
A  well-trained  porter  refused  to  tell  where  either  he 
or  the  Vice-Consul-General  lived,  but  we  managed 
to  find  out  and  got  to  the  Vice-Cons  ul-GeneraFs  house 
after  a  hunt  with  a  chasseur  of  the  hotel  on  the  box. 


136  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

He  was  not  at  home,  but  his  wife  was  there.  We 
talked  with  her  for  a  few  minutes,  and  then  went 
back  to  the  hotel  to  await  Sherman's  (Vicie-Consul- 
General)  coming.  He  called  in  the  course  of  a  few 
minutes,  and  we  made  arrangements  to  go  to  the 
Consulate  after  dinner  and  get  oflF  our  telegrams. 

By  the  time  we  could  get  washed  up  and  ready 
for  dinner,  the  crowd  had  come  back,  and  when  we 
set  foot  on  the  stairway,  we  were  literally  overwhelmed 
by  our  loving  friends.  First,  I  met  Sir  Francis  Villiers 
and  accepted  his  invitation  to  dine.  He  and  Prince 
Koudacheff,  the  Russian  Minister,  a  lot  of  other 
colleagues,  and  goodness  only  knows  who  else,  fell 
upon  us  with  demands  for  news.  I  took  refuge  in 
Sir  Francis's  office,  and  saw  as  many  people  as  I  could 
until  dinner  time.  Baron  van  der  Elst,  the  Secretary 
General  of  the  Foreign  Office,  and  M.  Carton  de  Wiart, 
the  Minister  of  Justice,  forgetting  all  about  the  require- 
ments of  the  protocol  that  I  should  make  the  first  call 
upon  them,  came  flying  around  to  see  if  I  had  any 
news  of  their  families.  Luckily  I  had,  and  was  able 
to  tell  them  that  all  was  well.  I  did  not  know  that 
I  had  so  much  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  people  in 
Brussels,  but  was  able  to  give  good  news  to  any  number 
of  people.  It  became  a  regular  joyfest,  and  was  more 
fun  for  me  than  for  anybody  else.  By  eight  o'clock 
we  got  out  to  dinner,  but  hardly  got  two  con- 
secutive bites  without  interruptions.  In  the  midst  of 
soup,  General  Yungbluth,  Chief  of  Staff  to  the  King, 
came  around  in  full  regimentals  and  wanted  to  get 
all  sorts  of  news  for  the  Queen.  Before  we  got  much 
farther,  others  began  to  arrive  and  drew  up  chairs 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  137 

to  the  table,  filling  up  all  that  part  of  the  room.  As 
we  were  finishing  dinner,  several  Ministers  of  State 
came  in  to  say  that  the  Prime  Minister  wanted  me  to 
come  to  meet  him  and  the  Cabmet  Council  which  was 
being  held — ^just  to  assure  them  that  all  was  well 
with  their  families  and  to  tell  them,  in  the  bargain, 
anything  that  I  felt  I  properly  could.  However,  I 
had  my  real  work  ahead  of  me — ^getting  off  my  tele- 
grams to  Washington.  I  tore  myseM  away  from  the 
crowd  and,  joining  Sherman,  who  was  waiting  for  me 
in  the  hall,  I  made  for  the  Consulate-General.  The 
Consul-General  was  already  there,  anxious  to  hear  the 
news.  I  had  to  get  before  the  Department  all  the 
news  I  could,  and  as  comprehensive  a  statement  as 
possible  of  everything  that  had  happened  since  com- 
munications had  been  cut.  I  pounded  away  until 
after  eleven,  and  got  off  a  fat  bundle  of  cables,  which 
Sherman  took  to  the  office  for  me.  I  then  made 
for  the  Grand  Hotel,  where  the  Cabinet  Council  was 
waiting  for  me. 

I  have  never  been  through  a  more  moving  time  than 
the  hour  and  a  half  I  spent  with  them.  It  was  hard 
to  keep  from  bursting  out  and  telling  them  everything 
that  I  knew  would  interest  them.  I  had  bound  myself 
with  no  promises  before  I  left  about  telling  of  the  situa- 
tion, but  none  the  less  I  felt  bound  not  to  do  it.  I  was 
able  to  tell  them  a  great  deal  that  was  of  comfort  to 
them,  and  that  could  give  no  ground  for  objection  if 
the  Germans  were  to  know  of  it,  and,  on  these  sub- 
jects, I  gave  them  all  they  wanted.  After  telling  them 
all  I  could  about  their  famihes  and  friends,  I  let  them 
ask  questions  and  did  my  best  to  answer  those  that 


138  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

I  could.  The  first  thing  they  wanted  to  know  was 
how  the  Germans  had  behaved  in  the  town.  The 
answer  I  gave  them  was  satisfactory.  Then  they 
wanted  to  know  whether  the  Royal  Palace  had  been 
respected,  or  whether  the  German  flag  was  flying  over 
it;  also  whether  the  Belgian  flag  still  flew  on  the 
Hotel  de  Ville.  Their  pride  in  their  old  town  was 
touching,  and  when  they  heard  that  no  harm  had  as 
yet  been  done  it,  you  would  have  thought  that  they 
were  hearing  good  news  of  friends  they  had  lost.  Then 
they  started  in  and  told  me  all  the  news  they  had  from 
outside  sources — ^bits  of  information  which  had  reached 
them  indirectly  via  Holland,  and  the  reports  of  their 
military  authorities.  We  have  never  had  such  com- 
plete information  given  us — enough  to  justify  the  trip 
even  if  I  had  not  restored  communication  with  the 
Department. 

We  stayed  on  and  talked  until  nearly  half-past 
twelve,  when  I  got  up  and  insisted  on  leaving;  perhaps 
it  is  just  as  well.  They  did  not  want  to  break  up  the 
party,  but  when  I  insisted,  they  also  made  up  their 
minds  to  call  it  a  day's  work  and  quit. 

We  brought  van  der  Elst  back  to  the  hotel,  and  with 
his  influence  ran  our  car  into  the  Gendarmerie  next 
door.     Then  to  bed. 

Blount  and  I  had  a  huge  room  on  the  third  floor 
front.  We  had  just  got  into  bed  and  were  settling 
down  to  a  good  night's  rest  when  there  was  an  ex- 
plosion, the  like  of  which  I  have  never  heard  before, 
and  we  sat  up  and  paid  strict  attention.  We  were 
greatly  interested,  but  took  it  calmly,  knowing  that 
the  forts  were  nearly  four  miles  out  of  town  and  that 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  139 

they  could  bang  away  as  long  as  they  liked  without 
doing  more  than  spoil  our  night's  sleep.  There  were 
eight  of  these  explosions  at  short  intervals,  and  then 
as  they  stopped  there  was  a  sharp  purr  like  the  distant 
rattle  of  a  machine  gun.  As  that  died  down,  the 
chimes  of  the  Cathedral — the  sweetest  carillon  I  have 
ever  heard — sounded  one  o'clock.  We  thought  that 
the  Germans  must  have  tried  an  advance  under  cover 
of  a  bombardment,  and  retired  as  soon  as  they  saw 
that  the  forts  were  vigilant  and  not  to  be  taken  by 
surprise.  We  did  not  even  get  out  of  bed.  About 
five  minutes  later  we  heard  footsteps  on  the  roof  and 
the  voice  of  a  woman  in  a  window  across  the  street, 
asking  some  one  on  the  sidewalk  below  whether  it  was 
safe  to  go  back  to  bed.  I  got  out  and  took  a  look  into 
the  street.  There  were  a  lot  of  people  there  talking 
and  gesticulating,  but  nothing  of  enough  interest  to 
keep  two  tired  men  from  their  night's  sleep,  so  we 
climbed  back  into  bed  and  stayed  until  morning. 

Blount  called  me  at  what  seemed  an  unreasonably 
early  hour  and  said  we  should  be  up  and  about  our 
day's  work.  When  we  were  both  dressed,  we  found 
that  we  had  made  a  bad  guess,  when  he  looked  at 
his  watch  and  discovered  that  it  was  only  a  quarter 
to  seven.  Being  up,  however,  we  decided  to  go  down 
and  get  our  breakfast. 

When  we  got  down  we  found  everybody  else  stirring, 
and  it  took  us  several  minutes  to  get  it  through  our 
heads  that  we  had  been  through  more  excitement  than 
we  wotted  of.  Those  distant  explosions  that  we  had 
taken  so  calmly  were  bombs  dropped  from  a.  Zeppelin 
which  had  sailed  over  the  city  and  dropped  death  and 


140  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

destruction  in  its  path.  The  first  bomb  fell  less  than 
two  hundred  yards  from  where  we  slept — ^no  wonder 
that  we  were  rocked  in  our  beds !  After  a  Uttle  break- 
fast we  sallied  forth. 

The  first  bomb  was  in  a  little  street  around  the  corner 
from  the  hotel,  and  had  fallen  into  a  narrow  four-story 
house,  which  had  been  blown  into  bits.  When  the 
bomb  burst,  it  not  only  tore  a  fine  hole  in  the  immedi- 
ate vicinity,  but  hurled  its  pieces  several  hundred  yards. 
All  the  windows  for  at  least  two  hundred  or  three  hun- 
dred feet  were  smashed  into  little  bits.  The  fronts  of 
all  the  surrounding  houses  were  pierced  with  hundreds 
of  holes,  large  and  small.  The  street  itself  was  filled 
with  debris  and  was  impassable.  From  this  place  we 
went  to  the  other  points  where  bombs  had  fallen.  As 
we  afterward  learned,  ten  people  were  killed  outright; 
a  number  have  since  died  of  their  injuries  and  a  lot 
more  are  injured,  and  some  of  these  may  die.  A  num- 
ber of  houses  were  completely  wrecked  and  a  great 
many  will  have  to  be  torn  down.  Army  officers  were 
amazed  at  the  terrific  force  of  the  explosions.  The 
last  bomb  dropped  as  the  Zeppelin  passed  over  our 
heads  fell  in  the  centre  of  a  large  square — ^la  Place  du 
Poids  Publique.  It  tore  a  hole  in  the  cobblestone  pave- 
ment, some  twenty  feet  square  and  four  or  five  feet 
deep.  Every  window  in  the  square  was  smashed  to 
bits.  The  fronts  of  the  houses  were  riddled  with  holes, 
and  everybody  had  been  obliged  to  move  out,  as  many 
of  the  houses  were  expected  to  fall  at  any  time.  The 
Dutch  Minister's  house  was  near  one  of  the  smaller 
bombs  and  was  damaged  slightly.  Every  window  was 
smashed.  All  the  crockery  and  china  are  gone;  mirrors 


^^^^D^H93H|fi|^i  T^ 

RviKnB^H»      <|^i 

n 

^'*il 

1 

'i^ -       ...... 

lioy  Scouts  at  Belgian  headquarters,  L 


leiTe 


Reading  from  left  to  right:  a  Jielgian  Staff  Ofiicer,  (oloiiei  i 'air- 
holme,  Colonel  DuCane  and  Captain  Ferguson.  (Malines 
Cathedral  in  the  background) 


^r" 


CUX 

Clorieux  tDartyrs  be  famines 


i_.  ^ ^    tombes  ^ons  la  ]oibiee  5u  20 'flout  )914 


e*2a^ 


List  of  the  civilians  killed  by  the  Germans  at  Tamines  on 
August  20,  1914 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  141 

in  tiny  fragments;  and  the  Minister  somewhat  startled. 
Not  far  away  was  Faura,  the  First  Secretary  of  the 
Spanish  Legation.  His  wife  had  been  worried  sick  for 
fear  of  bombardment,  and  he  had  succeeded  only  the 
day  before  in  prevailing  upon  her  to  go  to  England 
with  their  large  family  of  children.  Another  bomb  fell 
not  far  from  the  houses  of  the  Consul-General  and 
the  Vice-Consul-General,  and  they  were  not  at  all 
pleased.  The  windows  on  one  side  of  our  hotel  were 
also  smashed. 

We  learned  that  the  Zeppelin  had  sailed  over  the 
town  not  more  than  five  hundred  feet  above  us;  the 
motor  was  stopped  some  httle  distance  away  and  she 
slid  along  in  perfect  silence  and  with  her  lights  out.  It 
would  be  a  comfort  to  say  just  what  one  thinks  about 
the  whole  business.  The  "purr  of  machine  guns  that  we 
heard  after  the  explosion  of  the  last  bomb  was  the 
starting  of  the  motor,  which  carried  our  visitor  out  of 
range  of^the  guns  which  were  trundled  out  to  attack 
her.  Preparations  were  being  made  to  receive  such  a 
visit,  but  they  had  not  been  completed;  had  she  come 
a  day  or  two  later,  she  would  have  met  a  warm  recep- 
tion. The  line  of  march  was  straight  across  the  town, 
on  a  line  from  the  General  Staff,  the  Palace  where  the 
Queen  was  staying  with  the  royal  children,  the  mili- 
tary hospital  of  Ste.  EHsabeth,  filled  with  wounded, 
the  Bourse,  and  some  other  buildings.  It  looks  very 
much  as  though  the  idea  had  been  to  drop  one  of  the 
bombs  on  the  Palace.  The  Palace  itself  was  missed  by 
a  narrow  margin,  but  large  pieces  of  the  bomb  were 
picked  up  on  the  roof  and  shown  me  later  in  the  day 
by  Inglebleek,  the  King's  Secretary.     The  room  at  the 


142  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

General  Staff,  where  I  had  been  until  half  an  hour 
before  the  explosion,  was  a  pretty  ruin,  and  it  was  just 
as  well  for  us  that  we  left  when  we  did.  It  was  a  fine, 
big  room,  with  a  glass  dome  skylight  over  the  big 
round  table  where  we  were  sitting.  This  came  in  with 
a  crash  and  was  in  powder  all  over  the  place.  Next 
time  I  sit  under  a  glass  skylight  in  Antwerp,  I  shall  have 
a  guard  outside  with  an  eye  out  for  Zeppelins. 

If  the  idea  of  this  charming  performance  was  to 
inspire  terror,  it  was  a  complete  failure.  The  people  of 
the  town,  far  from  yielding  to  fear,  are  devoting  all 
their  energies  to  anger.  They  are  furious  at  the  idea 
of  killing  their  King  and  Queen.  There  is  no  telling 
when  the  performance  will  be  repeated,  but  there  is  a 
chance  that  next  time  the  balloon  man  will  get  a 
warmer  reception. 

In  the  morning  I  went  around  and  called  at  the 
Foreign  Office,  which  is  established  in  a  handsome 
building  that  belonged  to  one  of  the  municipal  admin- 
istrations. The  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  took  me 
into  his  office  and  summoned  all  hands  to  hear  any 
news  I  could  give  them  of  their  families  and  friends. 
I  also  took  notes  of  names  and  addresses  of  people  in 
Brussels  who  were  to  be  told  that  their  own  people  in 
Antwerp  were  safe  and  well.  I  had  been  doing  that 
steadily  from  the  minute  we  set  foot  in  the  hotel  the 
night  before,  and  when  I  got  back  here,  I  had  my 
pockets  bulging  with  innocent  messages.  Now  comes 
the  merry  task  of  getting  them  around. 

At  the  hotel  we  were  besieged  with  invitations 
to  lunch  and  dine  with  all  our  friends.  They  were 
not  only  glad  to  see  somebody  from  the  outside  world. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  143 

but  could  not  get  over  the  sporting  side  of  our  trip,  and 
patted  us  on  the  back  until  they  made  us  uncomfort- 
able. Everybody  in  Antwerp  looked  upon  the  trip  as 
a  great  exploit,  and  exuded  admiration.  I  fully 
expected  to  get  a  Carnegie  medal  before  I  got  away. 
And  it  sounded  so  funny  coming  from  a  lot  of  Belgian 
officers  who  had  for  the  last  few  weeks  been  going 
through  the  most  harrowing  experiences,  with  their 
lives  in  danger  every  minute,  and  even  now  with  a 
perfectly  good  chance  of  being  killed  before  the  war 
is  over.  They  seem  to  take  that  as  a  matter  of  course, 
but  look  upon  our  performance  as  in  some  way  different 
and  superior.     People  are  funny  things. 

I  stopped  at  the  Palace  to  sign  the  King's  book,  and 
ran  into  General  Jungbluth,  who  was  just  starting  off 
with  the  Queen.  She  came  down  the  stairs  and 
stopped  just  long  enough  to  greet  me,  and  then  went 
her  way;  she  is  a  brave  little  woman  and  deserves  a 
better  fate  than  she  has  had.  Inglebleek,  the  King's 
Secretary,  heard  that  I  was  there  signing  the  book,  and 
came  out  to  see  me.  He  said  that  the  Queen  was 
anxious  I  should  see  what  had  been  done  by  the  bombs 
of  the  night  before.  He  wanted  me  to  go  right  into 
the  houses  and  see  the  horrid  details.  I  did  not  want 
to  do  this,  but  there  was  no  getting  out  of  it  under  the 
circumstances. 

We  drove  first  to  the  Place  du  Poids  Publique  and 
went  into  one  of  the  houses  which  had  been  partially 
wrecked  by  one  of  the  smaller  bombs.  Everything  in 
the  place  had  been  left  as  it  was  until  the  police  magis- 
trate could  make  his  examination  and  report.  We 
climbed  to  the  first  floor,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the 


144  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

horrible  sight  that  awaited  us.  A  poor  poHceman  and 
his  wife  had  been  blown  to  fragments,  and  the  pieces 
were  all  over  the  walls  and  ceiling.  Blood  was  every- 
where. Other  details  are  too  terrible  even  to  think  of. 
I  could  not  stand  any  more  than  this  one  room.  There 
were  others  which  Inglebleek  wanted  to  show  me,  but 
I  could  not  think  of  it.  And  this  was  only  one  of  a 
number  of  houses  where  peaceful  men  and  women  had 
been  so  brutally  killed  while  they  slept. 

And  where  is  the  military  advantage  of  this?  If  the 
bombs  were  dropped  near  the  fortifications,  it  would  be 
easy  to  understand,  but  in  this  instance  it  is  hard  to 
explain  upon  any  ground,  except  the  hope  of  terrifying 
the  population  to  the  point  where  they  will  demand 
that  the  Government  surrender  the  town  and  the  for- 
tifications. Judging  from  the  temper  they  were  in  yes- 
terday at  Antwerp,  they  are  more  likely  to  demand 
that  the  place  be  held  at  all  costs  rather  than  risk  fall- 
ing under  the  rule  of  a  conqueror  brutal  enough  to 
murder  innocent  people  in  their  beds. 

The  Prime  Minister  told  me  that  he  had  four  sons 
in  the  army — all  the  children  he  has — and  that  he  was 
prepared  to  give  every  one  of  them,  and  his  own  life 
and  fortune,  into  the  bargain,  but  that  he  was  not  pre- 
pared— and  here  he  banged  his  fist  down  on  the  table 
and  his  eyes  flashed — to  admit  for  a  minute  the  possi- 
bility of  yielding  to  Germany.  Everybody  else  is  in 
the  same  state  of  mind.  It  is  not  hysterical.  The  war 
has  been  going  on  long  enough,  and  they  have  had  so 
many  hard  blows  that  the  glamour  and  the  fictitious 
attractiveness  of  the  thing  has  gone,  and  they  have 
settled  down  in  deadly  earnest  to  fight  to  the  bitter 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  145 

end.  There  may  not  be  one  stone  left  upon  another 
in  Belgium  when  the  Germans  get  through,  but  if 
these  people  keep  up  to  their  present  level  they  will 
come  through — ^what  there  is  left  of  them — ^free. 

Later  in  the  afternoon  I  went  to  the  Foreign  Office 
and  let  them  read  to  me  the  records  of  the  commission 
which  is  investigating  the  alleged  German  atrocities. 
They  are  working  in  a  calm  and  sane  way  and  seem  to 
be  making  the  most  earnest  attempt  to  get  at  the  true 
facts,  no  matter  whether  they  prove  or  disprove  the 
charges  that  have  been  made.  It  is  wonderful  to  see 
the  judicial  way  they  can  sit  down  in  the  midst  of  war 
and  carnage  and  try  to  make  a  fair  inquiry  on  a  matter 
of  this  sort.  If  one  one-thousandth  part  of  the  charges 
are  proven  to  be  true.  .  .  . 

The  rest  of  the  afternoon  was  spent  seeing  people 
who  came  in  for  news  of  Brussels,  and  who  had  mes- 
sages to  send  home.  I  had  had  to  tell  the  hotel  people 
that  I  would  be  there  from  four  to  seven  to  see  people, 
and  that  the  rest  of  the  time  I  must  have  free  for  my 
own  work.  They  came  in  swarms;  all  the  diplomats, 
the  Cabinet  Ministers,  and  the  Ministers  of  State, 
army  officers,  and  other  officials — a  perfect  mob.  I  had 
a  package  of  cards  on  which  I  noted  names  and  addresses 
and  the  messages  which  w^ere  to  be  delivered.  These 
messages  have  been  sent  out  to-day,  after  being  submitted 
to  the  military  authorities,  some  of  them  in  writing  and 
some  by  word  of  mouth,  and  if  they  have  afforded  one- 
tenth  the  comfort  that  I  hope,  the  sum  total  of  misery 
in  this  town  has  been  reduced  a  good  deal  this  day. 

Colonel  Fairholme  left  for  the  front,  w^ith  the  King, 
early  in  the  morning,  and  was  with  him  during  the  battle 


146  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

at  Malines.  He  thought  we  were  going  back  during  the 
day,  as  I  had  told  him  the  evening  before.  About  noon 
he  called  up  from  the  telephone  and  told  Sir  Francis 
that  under  no  circumstances  was  I  to  be  allowed  to 
start,  as  the  town  was  being  bombarded  with  heavy 
siege  pieces  and  all  traffic  was  absolutely  stopped;  that 
we  could  not  only  not  get  by,  but  that  any  part  of  the 
trip  by  the  regular  road  was  extremely  dangerous.  I 
was  just  as  glad  that  we  had  decided  to  stay  over. 
The  Colonel  stayed  out  all  that  night  and  had  not 
returned  to  Antwerp  when  we  left  yesterday.  During 
the  morning  he  called  up  again  and  asked  about  us, 
again  advising  against  our  starting.  Pretty  decent  of 
a  man  who  has  as  much  to  think  of  as  he  had  to  be 
worrying  about  us  enough  to  take  time  to  telephone 
us  as  to  the  dangers  of  the  road. 

During  the  evening  bad  news  came  in  from  France, 
and  everybody  was  down  in  the  mouth.  The  French 
Minister  came  in  and  told  me  what  he  had  received. 
Everybody  was  plainly  worried,  and  altogether  things 
looked  pretty  dismal.  We  sat  around  a  little  while 
and  then  decided  for  a  good  night's  sleep. 

To  make  sure  of  offering  no  unnecessary  chances  for 
Mr.  Zeppelin  the  authorities  had  ordered  all  the  lights 
on  the  streets  put  out  at  eight  o'clock.  It  was  dark 
as  midnight  and  there  was  no  use  in  thinking  of  ven- 
turing out  into  the  town.  The  Cathedral  clock  was 
stopped  and  the  carillon  turned  off  for  the  first  time 
in  heaven  only  knows  how  many  years.  It  was  a  city 
of  the  dead.  Guns  were  posted  in  the  streets  ready  for 
instant  use  in  case  the  airship  should  put  in  another 
appearance.     As  a  result  of  this  and  the  searchlights 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  147 

that  played  upon  the  sky  all  night,  our  friend  the  enemy 
did  not  appear.  Some  people  know  when  they  have 
had  enough. 

Yesterday  morning  I  looked  out  of  my  window  at 
the  Cathedral  clock,  and  saw  that  it  was  twenty -five 
minutes  to  ten.  I  tumbled  through  my  tub,  and 
rushed  downstairs  to  get  through  my  morning's  work, 
only  to  find  that  it  was  half-past  six.  I  had  forgotten 
that  the  Cathedral  clock  had  been  stopped. 

It  was  just  as  well  that  I  was  up  early,  however,  for 
there  was  plenty  to  be  done.  I  found  a  lot  of  telegrams 
waiting  for  me  at  the  Consulate,  and  had  to  get  off 
another  string  of  them.  Then  an  orderly  held  me  up 
on  the  street  to  tell  me  that  the  King's  Secretary  was 
hunting  for  me  all  over  the  place,  and  that  I  was 
wanted  at  the  Palace.  When  I  got  there,  he  had 
started  off  on  another  hunt  for  me.  He  finally  got 
me  at  the  hotel,  and  kept  me  for  half  an  hour. 

By  the  time  that  I  got  through  with  him,  there  was 
word  that  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  wanted  to 
see  me,  so  I  made  a  bee-line  over  there.  Then  there 
was  another  call  to  the  Consulate  to  answer  some  more 
telegrams.  After  attending  to  various  matters  at  the 
Palace,  the  Ministry  for  Foreign  AflFairs,  the  Consulate 
General,  and  seeing  a  few  more  people  at  the  hotel, 
the  morning  was  gone  and  it  was  time  for  lunch  and 
a  quick  get-away. 

All  hands  came  out  and  bade  us  farewell.  You 
would  have  thought  we  were  on  our  way  to  Heaven, 
except  for  the  fact  that  they  urged  us  to  come  back. 

As  we  could  hear  the  cannonading,  we  decided  that 
we  would  avoid  the  Malines  road  and  would  try  to 


148  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

skirt  around  the  zone  of  trouble  and  work  our  way  into 
Brussels  from  the  west.  We  got  ferried  across  the 
Scheldt  on  a  terrible  tub  of  a  steamer  that  looked  as 
though  she  would  go  down  under  the  weight  of  the 
military  automobiles  that  she  had  to  get  across  in 
order  to  take  ammunition  to  the  front.  We  all  got 
away  in  a  bunch  from  the  other  side,  but  we  drew 
ahead  of  them  as  we  had  not  such  a  heavy  load;  and 
within  three-quarters  of  an  hour  we  were  outside  the 
Belgian  hues.  Van  der  Elst  had  secured  for  us  a  most 
imposing  laisser-passer,  which  took  us  through  with 
practically  no  trouble  except  that  it  was  so  impressive 
that  we  were  held  at  each  barricade  while  all  the  men 
on  duty  took  turns  reading  it.  The  only  tickhsh  part 
of  the  trip  to  the  Belgian  outposts  was  working  our 
way  through  the  villages  which  had  been  mined  in 
anticipation  of  a  German  invasion.  It  is  bad  enough 
working  one's  way  through  there  in  a  motor  with 
everybody  helping  you  to  keep  out  of  harm's  way, 
but  it  must  be  a  trifle  worse  to  do  it  in  a  mass  with 
a  man  on  a  hill  a  Uttle  way  off  waiting  for  you  to  come 
up  to  the  signal  post  so  that  he  can  touch  a  button 
and  send  you  in  small  pieces  into  the  next  world. 

We  struck  out  through  St.  Nicholas,  Hamme,  Ter- 
monde  and  Assche,  and  got  into  Brussels  from  the  west 
without  mishap.  We  have  got  quite  used  to  having 
people  poke  bayonets  in  our  faces  and  brandish  re- 
volvers at  us,  so  the  latter  part  of  the  trip  with  only 
that  to  contend  with  seemed  quiet  and  almost  boring. 

On  the  road  in  from  Assche,  we  passed  near  Eppeghem 
and  Vilvorde,  where  the  fighting  had  been  going  on 
for  a  couple  of  days.     After  news  had  been  received 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  149 

in  Antwerp  of  the  defeat  of  the  French  and  Enghsh 
at  Mons  and  Charleroi,  the  Belgians  were  ordered  to 
fall  back  on  Antwerp  and  had  left  these  little  villages 
to_be  occupied  by  the  Germans.  As  they  occupied 
them,  they  had  set  them  afire  and  the  flames  were 
raging  as  we  came  by.  They  were  quaint  little  towns, 
and  had  excited  our  admiration  two  days  before  when 
we  had  gone  through — despite  the  fact  that  we  had 
other  things  on  our  minds  beside  admiring  the  beauties 
of  architecture.    Now  they  are  gone. 

The  Germans  gave  us  no  trouble,  and  we  got  back 
to  the  Legation  by  a  Httle  before  five.  Everyone 
poured  out  to  meet  us,  and  greeted  us  as  prodigal  sons. 
When  we  had  not  come  back  the  day  before,  they  had 
about  made  up  their  minds  that  something  dreadful 
had  happened  to  us,  and  the  rejoicing  over  our  return 
was  consequently  much  greater  than  if  we  had  not 
whetted  their  imaginations  just  a  little. 

I  found  that  the  situation  in  Brussels  had  under- 
gone big  changes  while  I  was  away.  General  von 
Jarotzky  had  been  replaced  by  General  von  Llittwitz, 
who  is  an  administrator,  and  has  been  sent  to  put 
things  in  running  order  again.  There  was  no  inkling 
of  this  change  when  I  left,  and  I  was  a  good  deal  sur- 
prised. Guns  have  been  placed  at  various  strategic 
points  commanding  the  town,  and  the  Germans  are 
ready  for  anything.  The  telephone  wire  they  had  put 
through  the  town  to  connect  the  two  stations  and 
headquarters  was  cut  day  before  yesterday  by  some 
cheerful  idiot  who  probably  thought  he  was  doing 
something  good  for  his  country.  The  military  author- 
ities thereupon  announced  that  if  anything  of  the  sort 


150  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

was  aone  again  they  would  lay  waste  the  quarter  of 
the  town  where  the  act  was  committed. 

Some  of  the  subordinate  officers  have  since  told  us 
that  von  Jarotzky  was  a  fighting  general,  and  had  no 
business  staying  in  a  post  requiring  administrative 
ability.  The  new  man  is  cut  out  particularly  for  this 
sort  of  work,  and  is  going  to  start  a  regular  German 
administration.  Functionaries  are  being  brought  from 
Berlin  to  take  things  over,  and  in  a  short  time  we  shall, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes,  be  living  in  a  German  city. 
The  first  trains  ran  to-day  in  a  halting  fashion  to  Liege 
and  the  German  frontier.  Perhaps  we  shall  have  a 
newspaper. 

Most  distressing  news  has  come  through  from 
Tamines.  I  had  a  long  talk  to-day  with  a  trustworthy 
man  from  there,  and  his  story  was  enough  to  make 
one's  blood  run  cold.  He  says  that  on  the  evening 
of  the  twenty-first  the  Germans  entered  the  village 
after  a  brush  with  French  troops  which  were  still  in 
the  neighbourhood.  Infuriated  by  the  resistance 
offered  to  their  advance,  they  proceeded  to  vent  their 
rage  on  the  town.  They  shot  down  a  lot  of  villagers, 
and  arrested  many  more.  A  great  many  escaped  to 
the  country.  A  lot  of  houses  were  first  sacked,  and 
then  burned.  The  orgy  continued  during  the  night, 
and  through  the  next  day.  On  the  evening  of  the 
twenty-second,  something  over  four  hundred  men  were 
collected  near  the  church  and  lined  up  to  be  shot. 
The  work  was  done  for  a  time  by  a  firing  squad  which 
fired  into  the  crowd  with  more  or  less  system,  but  this 
was  too  slow,  and  finally  a  rapid-fire  gun  was  brought 
out  and  turned  loose.     Of  course,  a  great  many  were 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  151 

not  killed  outright  and  lay  groaning  among  the 
dead.  Now  and  then  a  German  would  put  one  out  of  his 
misery  by  a  bayonet  thrust.  Others  settled  their 
own  troubles  by  rolling  themselves  into  the  nearby 
river.  Altogether  over  six  hundred  people  were  shot 
down,  but  it  is  hard  to  get  any  exact  figures  yet. 
After  the  shooting  was  over,  other  civilians  were 
brought  out  and  compelled  to  bury  the  dead.  My 
informant  says  that  some  of  the  scenes  attending  this 
duty  were  quite  as  poignant  as  the  shooting  itself, 
for  some  buried  their  own  fathers  and  brothers.  One 
man  about  to  be  thrown  into  the  trench  was  found 
to  be  still  alive,  but  the  German  doctor,  after  a  cursory 
examination,  ordered  him  buried  with  the  rest.  The 
man  had  enough  life  left  in  him  to  raise  his  hand  in 
appeal  but  the  doctor  shrugged  his  shoulder  and  re- 
peated his  order.  There  were  many  incidents,  most 
of  them  horrible.  The  man  who  told  the  story  seemed 
still  dazed  and  spoke  quietly,  with  few  adjectives  and 
little  emphasis  on  anything  he  said.  It  was  a  bare 
recital  of  facts,  and  far  more  moving  than  if  he  had 
striven  for  effect. 

Davis  got  back  yesterday  from  his  trip  to  the  front, 
and  we  learned  that  he  had  been  through  a  perfectly 
good  experience  that  will  look  well  when  he  comes  to 
writing  it  up,  but  one  that  gave  him  little  satisfaction 
while  it  was  in  progress.  He  started  off  to  follow  the 
German  army  in  the  hope  of  locating  the  English. 
After  leaving  Hal,  some  bright  young  German  officer 
decided  that  he  was  a  suspicious-looking  character, 
and  ought  to  be  shot  as  an  English  spy.  As  a  pre- 
Uminary,  they  arrested  him  and  locked  him  up.    Then 


152  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

the  war  was  called  off  while  the  jury  sat  on  his  case. 
One  of  the  officers  thought  it  would  be  a  superfluous 
effort  to  go  through  the  form  of  trying  him,  but  that 
they  should  shoot  him  without  further  to  do.  They 
began  considering  his  case  at  eleven  in  the  morning, 
and  kept  it  up  until  midnight.  He  was  given  pretty  clear- 
ly to  understand  that  his  chances  were  shm,  and  that 
the  usual  fate  of  spies  awaited  him.  He  argued  at 
length,  and  apparently  his  arguments  had  some  effect, 
for  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  was  routed  out 
and  told  to  hit  the  road  toward  Brussels.  He  was 
ordered  to  keep  religiously  to  the  main  road  all  the 
way  back,  on  pain  of  being  shot  on  sight,  and  to  report 
at  headquarters  here  immediately  on  his  arrival.  By 
this  time  he  was  perfectly  willing  to  do  exactly  what 
was  demanded  by  those  in  authority,  and  made  a  bee- 
hne  back  here  on  foot.  He  turned  up  at  the  Legation 
yesterday  morning,  footsore  and  weary,  and  looking 
like  a  tramp,  and  told  his  story  to  an  admiring  audience. 
I  was  still  away  on  my  little  jaunt,  and  did  not  get 
it  at  first  hand.  The  Minister  took  him  down  to  call  on 
the  General,  and  got  them  to  understand  that  Richard 
Harding  Davis  was  not  an  English  spy,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  probably  the  greatest  writer  that  ever  lived, 
not  excepting  Shakespeare  or  Milton.  The  General 
said  he  had  read  some  of  his  short  stories,  and  that  he 
would  not  have  him  shot.  Just  the  same,  he  was  not 
keen  about  having  him  follow  the  operations.  He  is 
now  ordered  to  remain  in  this  immediate  neighbour- 
hood until  further  orders.  To-day  he  had  several 
interviews  with  the  General  in  an  attempt  to  get 
permission   to  leave   the   country,   but  had  no  luck. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  153 

The  last  we  saw  of  Davis,  he  came  in  late  this  after- 
noon to  tell  us  that  he  did  not  know  what  to  do  next. 
He  said  that  he  had  been  through  six  wars,  but  that 
he  had  never  been  so  scared  as  he  was  at  that  time. 
If  he  is  allowed  to  get  out  of  Belgium,  I  think  that 
he  will  not  darken  the  door  of  General  von  Luttwitz 
for  some  time  to  come. 

I  was  surprised  to  learn  that  Hans  von  Herwarth, 
who  used  to  be  military  attache  in  Washington,  and 
whom  I  knew  very  well,  is  here  as  Adjutant  to  our 
new  Governor.  I  have  not  yet  had  time  to  get  over 
to  see  him,  but  shall  try  to  do  so  to-morrow.  I  am 
glad  to  have  somebody  hke  that  here  to  do  business 
with.  He  is  a  real  white  man,  and  I  anticipate  a  much 
better  time  with  him  than  with  any  other  oflScer  they 
could  send  here  in  that  capacity. 

Baron  Capelle  came  in  late  this  afternoon  to  tell 
me  that  the  Germans  were  bringing  in  a  lot  of  priests 
on  carts  filled  with  cows  and  pigs,  and  were  planning  to 
hold  them  as  hostages.  One  of  them  had  called  out  and 
asked  him  to  notify  us  that  Monseigneur  de  Becker, 
Rector  of  the  American  College  at  Louvain,  was 
among  these  prisoners.  He  is  the  priest  I  went  to 
see  when  I  was  in  Louvain  ten  days  ago.  I  had 
told  him  he  was  perfectly  safe,  and  scoffed  at  his  fears. 

The  Minister  was  out  when  this  news  came,  but  I 
sallied  forth  and  tried  to  locate  the  Monseigneur.  He 
was  not  to  be  found  anywhere.  When  I  got  back  to 
the  Legation,  both  the  Minister  and  Villalobar  were 
here  and  I  told  them  all  about  what  had  happened. 
The  people  of  the  town  were  getting  excited  over  the 
treatment  that  was  being  meted  out  to  their  priests. 


154  A  JOURNAL  FROIVI  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

and  it  was  in  a  fair  way  to  result  in  serious  trouble. 
Both  Ministers  made  for  the  Ministry  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  where  the  German  Government  is  established, 
and  before  they  left,  had  secured  orders  for  the  release 
of  all  the  hostages.  A  lot  of  these  terrible  things  are 
done  by  subordinate  officers,  and  the  people  at  the  top 
seem  only  too  anxious  to  learn  of  such  affairs  and  do 
what  they  can  to  remedy  them.  The  day  has  been 
dreadful  with  stories  of  suffering  and  murder  and 
pillage. 

Not  only  are  we  cut  off  from  communication  with 
the  outside  world,  but  a  lot  of  the  ordinary  con- 
veniences of  life  have  already  disappeared.  We  have 
no  newspapers,  no  trams,  no  taxis,  no  telephones. 
Milk  is  no  longer  to  be  had,  and  within  a  day  or  two 
we  shall  have  no  butter  or  eggs.  Then  it  will  begin 
to  look  like  a  real  siege.  In  a  day  or  so  I  am  to  have 
a  list  of  Jarotzky's  demands  for  supplies,  so  that  I  can 
cheer  myself  with  thoughts  of  what  our  life  is  to  be 
like. 

There  is  bad  news  from  Louvain.  The  reports 
we  have  received  agree  that  there  was  some  sort 
of  trouble  in  the  square  before  the  Hotel  de  Ville 
a  day  or  two  ago.  Beyond  that,  no  two  reports 
are  alike.  The  Germans  say  that  the  son  of  the 
Burgomaster  shot  down  some  staff  officers  who  were 
talking  together  at  dusk  before  the  Hotel  de  Ville. 
The  only  flaw  in  that  story  is  that  the  Burgo- 
master has  no  son.  Some  Belgians  say  that  two 
bodies  of  Germans  who  were  drunk  met  in  the 
dusk;  that  one  body  mistook  the  other  for  French, 
and  opened  fire.     Other  reliable  people  tell  with  con- 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  155 

vincing  detail  that  the  trouble  was  planned  and  started 
by  the  Germans  in  cold  blood.  However  that  may  be, 
the  affair  ended  in  the  town  being  set  on  fire,  and 
civilians  shot  down  in  the  streets  as  they  tried  to 
escape.  According  to  the  Germans  themselves,  the 
town  is  being  wiped  out  of  existence.  The  Cathedral, 
the  Library,  the  University,  and  other  public  buildings 
have  either  been  destroyed  or  have  suffered  severely. 
People  have  been  shot  by  hundreds,  and  those  not 
killed  are  being  driven  from  the  town.  They  are  coming 
to  Brussels  by  thousands,  and  the  end  is  not  yet.  This 
evening  the  wife  of  the  Minister  of  Fine  Arts  came  in 
with  the  news  that  her  mother,  a  woman  of  eighty-four, 
had  been  driven  from  her  home  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet  and  forced  to  walk  with  a  stream  of  refugees 
all  the  way  to  Tervueren,  a  distance  of  about  twelve 
miles,  before  she  could  be  put  on  a  tram  to  her 
daughter's   house.     Two   old   priests   have    staggered 

into  the Legation  more  dead  than  alive  after 

having  been  compelled  to  walk  ahead  of  the  German 
troops  for  miles  as  a  sort  of  protecting  screen.  One 
of  them  is  ill,  and  it  is  said  that  he  may  die  as  a  result 
of  what  he  has  gone  through. 

August  28th. — ^After  lunch  Blount  and  I  decided  to 
go  out  to  Louvain  to  learn  for  ourselves  just  how  much 
truth  there  is  in  the  stories  we  have  heard,  and  see 
whether  the  American  College  is  safe.  We  were  going 
alone,  but  Pousette  and  Bulle,  the  Swedish  and  Mexican 
Charges  d' Affaires,  were  anxious  to  join  us,  so  the  four 
of  us  got  away  together  and  made  good  time  as  far 
as  the  first  outpost  this  side  of  Louvain. 


156  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Here  there  was  a  small  camp  by  a  hospital,  and  the 
soldiers  came  out  to  examine  our  papers  and  warn  us 
to  go  no  farther,  as  there  was  fighting  in  the  town. 
The  road  was  black  with  frightened  civilians  carrying 
away  small  bundles  from  the  ruins  of  their  homes. 
Ahead  was  a  great  column  of  dull  gray  smoke  which 
completely  hid  the  city.  We  could  hear  the  muffled 
sound  of  firing  ahead.  Down  the  httle  street  which 
led  to  the  town,  we  could  see  dozens  of  white  flags 
which  had  been  hung  out  of  the  windows  in  a  childish 
hope  of  averting  trouble. 

We  talked  with  the  soldiers  for  some  time  in  an 
eflFort  to  get  some  idea  of  what  had  really  happened 
in  the  town.  They  seemed  convinced  that  civilians 
had  precipitated  the  whole  business  by  firing  upon  the 
staff  of  a  general  who  was  parleying  with  the  Burgo- 
master in  the  square  before  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  They 
saw  nothing  themselves,  and  believe  what  they  are 
told.  Different  members  of  the  detachment  had 
different  stories  to  tell,  including  one  that  civihans  had 
a  machine  gun  installed  on  top  of  the  Cathedral,  and 
fired  into  the  German  troops,  inflicting  much  damage. 
One  of  the  men  told  us  that  his  company  had  lost 
twenty-five  men  in  the  initial  flurry.  They  were 
a  depressed  and  nervous-looking  crew,  bitter  against 
the  civil  population  and  cursing  their  ways  with  great 
earnestness.  They  were  at  some  pains  to  impress  upon 
us  that  all  Belgians  were  Schwein,  and  that  the  people 
of  Louvain  were  the  lowest  known  form  of  the  animal. 

After  talking  the  situation  over  with  the  officer  in 
command,  we  decided  to  try  getting  around  the  town 
to  the  station  by  way  of  the  ring  of  outer  boulevards. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  157 

We  got  through  in  good  shape,  being  stopped  a  few 
times  by  soldiers  and  by  little  groups  of  frightened 
civilians  who  were  cowering  in  the  shelter  of  doorways, 
listening  to  the  noise  of  fighting  in  the  town,  the  steady 
crackle  of  machine  guns,  and  the  occasional  explosions. 

They  were  pathetic  in  their  confidence  that  the 
United  States  was  coming  to  save  them.  In  some  way 
word  has  traveled  all  over  Belgium  that  we  have 
entered  the  war  on  the  side  of  Belgium,  and  they  all 
seem  to  believe  ,it.  Nearly  every  group  we  talked  to 
asked  hopefully  when  our  troops  were  coming,  and 
when  we  answered  that  we  were  not  involved,  they 
asked  wistfully  if  we  didn't  think  we  should  be  forced 
to  come  in  later.  A  httle  boy  of  about  eight,  in  a 
group  that  stopped  us,  asked  me  whether  we  were 
English,  and  when  I  told  him  what  we  were,  he  began 
jumping  up  and  down,  clapping  his  hands,  and 
shouting : 

Les  Americains  sont  arrives!  Les  Americains  sont 
arrives! 

His  father  told  him  to  be  quiet,  but  he  was  perfectly 
happy  and  clung  to  the  side  of  the  car  as  long  as  we 
stayed,  his  eyes  shining  with  joy,  convinced  that  things 
were  going  to  be  all  right  somehow. 

About  half  way  around  the  ring  of  boulevards  we 
came  to  burning  houses.  The  outer  side  of  the  boule- 
vard was  a  hundred  feet  or  so  from  the  houses,  so  the 
motor  was  safe,  but  it  was  pretty  hot  and  the  cinders 
were  so  thick  that  we  had  to  put  on  our  goggles.  A 
lot  of  the  houses  were  still  burning,  but  most  of  them 
were  nothing  but  blackened  walls  with  smouldering 
timbers  inside.     Many  of  the  front  doors  had  been 


158  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

battered  open  in  order  to  start  the  fires  or  to  rout  out 
the  people  who  were  in  hiding. 

We  came  to  a  German  ammunition  wagon,  half  upset 
against  a  tree,  where  it  had  been  hurled  when  the 
horses  had  turned  to  run  away.  The  tongue  was 
broken  and  wrenched  out.  Near  by  were  the  two 
horses,  dead  and  swollen  imtil  their  legs  stood  out 
straight.  Then  we  began  to  see  more  ghastly  sights — 
poor  civilians  lying  where  they  had  been  shot  down  as 
they  ran — ^men  and  women — one  old  patriarch  lying 
on  his  back  in  the  sun,  his  great  white  beard  nearly 
hiding  his  swollen  face.  All  sorts  of  wreckage  scat- 
tered over  the  street,  hats  and  wooden  shoes,  German 
helmets,  swords  and  saddles,  bottles  and  all  sorts  of 
bundles  which  had  been  dropped  and  abandoned  when 
the  trouble  began.  For  three-quarters  of  a  mile  the 
boulevard  looked  as  though  it  had  been  swept  by  a 
cyclone.  The  Porte  de  Tirlemont  had  evidently  been 
the  scene  of  particularly  bloody  business.  The  tele- 
graph and  trolley  wires  were  down;  dead  men  and 
horses  all  over  the  square;  the  houses  still  burning. 
The  broad  road  we  had  traveled  when  we  went  to  Tirle- 
mont was  covered  with  wreckage  and  dead  bodies. 

Some  bedraggled  German  soldiers  came  out  from 
imder  the  gate  and  examined  our  passes.  They  were 
nervous  and  unhappy  and  shook  their  heads  gloomily 
over  the  horrors  through  which  they  were  passing. 
They  said  they  had  had  hardly  a  minute's  sleep  for 
the  past  three  nights.  Their  eyes  were  bloodshot  and 
they  were  almost  too  tired  to  talk.  Some  of  them 
were  drunk — ^in  the  sodden  stage,  when  the  effect 
begins  to  wear  off.     They  told  us  we  could  proceed  in 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  159 

safety  as  far  as  the  station,  where  we  would  find  the 
headquarters  of  the  commanding  officer.  Here  we 
could  leave  the  motor  and  learn  how  far  we  could 
safely  go.  This  crowd  varied  the  wording  a  little  by 
saying  that  the  Belgians  were  all  dogs  and  that  these 
particular  dogs  were  being  driven  out,  as  they  should 
be,  that  all  that  part  of  town  was  being  cleared  of  peo- 
ple, ordered  to  leave  their  homes  and  go  to  Brussels  or 
some  other  town,  so  that  the  destruction  of  Louvain 
could  proceed  systematically.  We  thought  at  the  time 
that  they  were  exaggerating  what  was  being  done,  but 
were  enlightened  before  we  had  gone  much  farther. 

We  continued  down  the  boulevard  for  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  or  so  till  we  came  to  the  station.  Sentries  came 
out  and  looked  through  our  passes  again.  We  parked 
the  motor  with  a  number  of  German  military  cars  in 
the  square  and  set  off  on  foot  down  the  Rue  de  la 
Station,  which  we  had  admired  so  much  when  we  had 
driven  down  its  length,  just  ten  days  before. 

The  houses  on  both  sides  were  either  partially  de- 
stroyed or  smouldering.  Soldiers  were  systematically 
removing  what  was  to  be  found  in  the  way  of  valuables, 
food,  and  wine,  and  then  setting  fire  to  the  furniture 
and  hangings.  It  was  all  most  businesslike.  The 
houses  are  substantial  stone  buildings,  and  fire  will  not 
spread  from  one  to  another.  Therefore  the  procedure 
was  to  batter  down  the  door  of  each  house,  clean  out 
what  was  to  be  saved,  then  pile  furniture  and  hangings 
in  the  middle  of  the  room,  set  them  afire,  and  move  on 
to  the  next  house. 

It  was  pretty  hot,  but  we  made  our  way  down  the 
street,  showing  our  passes  every  hundred  feet  or  so  to 


160  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

soldiers  installed  in  comfortable  armchairs,  which  they 
had  dragged  into  the  gutter  from  looted  houses,  till  we 
came  to  a  little  crossing  about  half  way  to  the  Hotel 
de  Ville.  Here  we  were  stopped  by  a  small  detachment 
of  soldiers,  who  told  us  that  we  could  go  no  farther; 
that  they  were  clearing  civilians  out  of  some  houses  a 
little  farther  down  the  street,  and  that  there  was  likely 
to  be  firing  at  any  time. 

The  officer  in  command  spoke  to  us  civilly  and  told 
us  to  stick  close  to  him  so  that  we  could  know  just 
what  we  ought  to  do  at  any  time.  He  was  in  charge 
of  the  destruction  of  this  part  of  the  town  and  had 
things  moving  along  smartly.  His  men  were  firing  some 
houses  near  by  and  he  stood  outside  smoking  a  rank 
cigar  and  looking  on  gloomily. 

We  exchanged  remarks  with  him  in  German  for  a 
few  minutes,  I  limping  along  behind  the  more  fluent 
Pousette  and  BuUe.  Then  I  said  something  in  an 
aside  to  Blount,  and  the  officer  broke  into  the  conver- 
sation in  perfectly  good  English.  He  turned  out  to  be 
a  volunteer  officer  from  Hamburg,  who  had  spent  some 
thirty  years  in  England  and  was  completely  at  home 
in  the  language. 

We  then  accomplished  the  formal  introductions 
which  are  so  necessary  to  Germans  even  at  a  time  like 
this,  and  when  we  came  to  Bulle  the  officer  burst  into 
a  rapid  fire  of  questions,  which  ended  in  his  proclaim- 
ing in  rapture: 

"Why,  I  knew  your  father  in  Hamburg  and  went  to 
school  with  your  Uncle  So-and-so!" 

Reminiscence  went  on  as  though  we  were  about  a 
dining  table  at  home;  minute  inquiry  was  made  into 


Copyright  by  Harris  d-  Ewing,  Wcisliimjton 

Senor  don  German  Biille,  Mexican  Charge  d'Affaires  in  Belgium 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  LN  BELGIUM  161 

the  weKare  and  activities  of  the  Bulle  family  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave.  On  the  strength  of  the  respecta- 
bility of  BuUe's  relatives  we  were  then  taken  imder  the 
officer's  wing  and  piloted  by  him  through  the  rest  of 
our  visit. 

From  where  we  stood  we  could  see  down  the  street 
through  the  smoke,  as  far  as  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  It 
was  still  standing,  but  the  Cathedral  across  the  street 
was  badly  damaged  and  smoke  was  rising  in  clouds 
from  its  roof.  The  business  houses  beyond  were  not 
to  be  seen;  the  smoke  was  too  dense  to  tell  how  many 
of  them  were  gone. 

Machine  guns  were  at  work  near  by,  and  occasionally 
there  was  a  loud  explosion  when  the  destructive  work 
was  helped  with  dynamite. 

A  number  of  the  men  about  us  were  drunk  and  evi- 
dently had  been  in  that  state  for  some  time.  Our 
officer  complained  that  they  had  had  very  little  to  eat 
for  several  days,  but  added  glumly  that  there  was 
plenty  to  drink. 

A  cart,  heaped  high  with  loot,  driven  by  a  fat  Land- 
sturmer  and  pulled  by  a  tiny  donkey,  came  creaking 
past  us.  One  of  our  party  pulled  his  kodak  from  his 
pocket  and  inquired  of  our  guardian  in  English:  "May 
I  take  a  picture?" 

His  intent  evidently  escaped  the  German,  who 
answered  cordially: 

"Certainly;  go  ahead.  You  will  find  some  beautiful 
things  over  there  on  the  corner  in  the  house  they  are 
getting  ready  to  burn." 

We  kept  our  faces  under  control,  and  he  was  too 
much  occupied  with  his  other  troubles  to  notice  that 


162  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

we  did  not  avail  of  his  kind  permission  to  join  in  the 
pillage. 

He  was  rabid  against  the  Belgians  and  had  an  end- 
less series  of  stories  of  atrocities  they  had  committed 
— though  he  admitted  that  he  had  none  of  them  at 
first  hand.  He  took  it  as  gospel,  however,  that  they 
had  fired  upon  the  German  troops  in  Lou  vain  and  laid 
themselves  open  to  reprisals.  To  his  thinking  there  is 
nothing  bad  enough  for  them,  and  his  chief  satisfaction 
seemed  to  consist  in  repeating  to  us  over  and  over  that 
he  was  going  the  limit.  Orders  had  been  issued  to  raze 
the  town — "till  not  one  stone  was  left  on  another,"  as 
he  said. 

Just  to  see  what  would  happen  I  inquired  about  the 
provision  of  The  Hague  Conventions,  prescribing  that 
no  collective  penalty  can  be  imposed  for  lawless  acts 
of  individuals.  He  dismissed  that  to  his  own  satisfac- 
tion by  remarking  that: 

"All  Belgians  are  dogs,  and  all  would  do  these  things 
unless  they  are  taught  what  will  happen  to  them." 

Convincing  logic! 

With  a  hard  glint  in  his  eye  he  told  us  the  purpose 
of  his  work;  he  came  back  to  it  over  and  over,  but  the 
burden  of  what  he  had  to  say  was  something  like  this: 

"We  shall  make  this  place  a  desert.  We  shall  wipe 
it  out  so  that  it  will  be  hard  to  find  where  Louvain  used  to 
stand.  For  generations  people  will  come  here  to  see  what 
we  have  done,  and  it  will  teach  them  to  respect  Germany 
and  to  think  twice  before  they  resist  her.  Not  one 
stone  on  another,  I  tell  you — kein  Stein  auf  einander! " 

I  agreed  with  him  when  he  remarked  that  people 
would  come  here  for  generations  to  see  what  Germany 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  163 

had  done — ^but  he  did  not  seem  to  follow  my  line  of 
thought. 

While  we  were  talking  about  these  things  and  the 
business  of  burning  and  looting  was  pursuing  its  orderly 
course,  a  rifle  shot  rang  out  near  by.  Instantly  every 
soldier  seized  his  rifle  and  stood  waiting  for  an  indica- 
tion as  to  what  would  happen  next.  In  a  few  seconds 
a  group  of  soldiers  rushed  into  a  house  about  a  hundred 
feet  away.  There  was  a  sound  of  blows,  as  though  a 
door  was  being  beaten  in;  then  a  few  shots,  and  the 
soldiers  came  out  wiping  the  perspiration  from  their 
faces. 

"Snipers!"  said  our  guide,  shaking  his  fist  at  the 
house.  "We  have  gone  through  that  sort  of  thing  for 
three  days  and  it  is  enough  to  drive  us  mad;  fighting 
is  easy  in  comparison,  for  then  you  know  what  you  are 
doing."  And  then  almost  tearfully:  "Here  we  are  so 
helpless ! " 

^Miile  he  was  talking  another  shot  rang  out,  and 
then  there  was  a  regular  fusillade,  which  lasted  for 
fifteen  seconds  or  so;  then  an  explosion. 

Bulle  stood  not  upon  the  order  of  his  going,  but  ran 
for  the  station,  calling  back: 

"I've  had  enough  of  this.  Let's  get  out  and  go 
home." 

Our  friend,  the  officer,  said  Bulle  was  right,  and 
that  it  would  be  the  part  of  wisdom  for  us  all  to  fall 
back  to  the  station,  where  we  would  be  near  the  car 
in  case  anything  happened.  He  started  off  at  a  good 
pace,  and  as  we  were  in  no  mood  to  argue  we  w^ent 
meekly  along  in  his  wake.  We  overtook  Bulle  engaged 
in  an  altercation  with  a  very  drunken  soldier,  who 


164  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

wanted  to  see  his  papers  and  was  insulting  about 
it.  Instead  of  taking  the  easy  course  and  showing  his 
papers  Bulle  was  opening  a  debate  on  the  subject, 
when  we  arrived  and  took  a  hand.  Our  officer  waded 
into  the  soldier  in  a  way  that  would  have  caused  a 
mutiny  in  any  other  army,  and  the  soldier,  very  drunk 
and  sullen,  retreated,  muttering,  to  his  armchair  on  the 
curb.     We  then  moved  on  to  the  station. 

Outside  the  station  was  a  crowd  of  several  hundred 
people,  mostly  women  and  children,  being  herded  on 
to  trains  by  soldiers,  to  be  run  out  of  the  town.  They 
seemed  to  be  decently  treated  but  were  naturally  in  a 
pitiable  state  of  terror.  Just  inside  the  gates  of  the 
freight  yard  were  a  couple  of  women  telling  their 
troubles  to  a  group  of  officers  and  soldiers.  They  had 
both  lost  their  husbands  in  the  street-fighting,  and  were 
in  a  terrible  state.  The  officers  and  men  were  gathered 
about  them,  evidently  distressed  by  their  trouble,  and 
trying  to  comfort  them.  They  had  put  the  older 
woman  in  an  armchair  and  were  giving  her  a  little 
brandy  in  a  tea  cup.  And  the  same  men  may  have 
been  the  ones  who  killed  the  husbands.  .  .  . 

We  went  on  into  the  freight  yards  and  were  greeted 
by  a  number  of  officers  with  hopeful  talk  about  a 
train  coming  from  Brussels  with  food.  We  were 
given  chairs  and  an  orderly  was  despatched  for  a  bottle 
of  wine  so  that  a  drink  could  be  given  to  Bulle,  who 
said  that  after  what  he  had  been  through  he  would 
appreciate  a  glass  of  something  comforting. 

We  settled  down  and  listened  to  the  stories  of  the 
past  few  days.  It  was  a  story  of  clearing  out  civilians 
from  a  large  part  of  the  town;  a  systematic  routing  out 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  165 

of  men  from  cellars  and  garrets,  wholesale  shootings, 
the  generous  use  of  machine  guns,  and  the  free  appli- 
cation of  the  torch — the  whole  story  enough  to  make 
one  see  red.  And  for  our  guidance  it  was  impressed 
on  us  that  this  would  make  people  res'ped  Germany 
and  think  twice  about  resisting  her. 

Suddenly  several  shots  rang  out  apparently  from 
some  ruins  across  the  street  and  the  whole  place  was 
instantly  in  an  uproar.  The  hues  of  civilians  were 
driven  helter-skelter  to  cover — -where,  I  don't  know. 
The  stands  of  arms  in  the  freight  yard  were  snatched 
up,  and  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it,  several 
hundred  men  were  scattered  behind  any  sort  of  shelter 
that  offered,  ready  for  the  fray. 

I  took  one  quick  look  about  and  decided  that  the 
substantial  freight  station  was  the  most  attractive 
thing  in  sight.  In  no  time  I  was  inside,  closely  followed 
by  my  own  crowd  and  a  handful  of  soldiers.  First,  we 
lay  down  upon  the  platform,  and  then,  when  we  got  our 
bearings,  rolled  over  on  to  the  track  among  a  lot  of 
artillery  horses  that  were  tethered  there. 

Apparently  a  number  of  civilians,  goaded  to  despera- 
tion "by  what  they  had  seen,  had  banded  together, 
knowing  that  they  were  as  good  as  dead,  and  had 
determined  to  sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as  they  could. 
They  had  gathered  in  the  ruins  of  the  houses  fronting 
on  the  station  and  had  opened  up  on  us.  There  was  a 
brisk  interchange  of  shots,  with  an  occasional  tinkle  of 
broken  glass  and  a  good  deal  of  indiscriminate  cursing 
by  the  soldiers,  who  had  taken  refuge  with  us. 

The  artillery  horses  did  not  welcome  us  very  cor- 
dially and  began  to  get  restive  in  a  way  that  made  us 


166  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

debate  whether  we  preferred  staying  up  on  the  plat- 
form with  a  chance  of  being  potted  or  staying  under 
cover  and  being  ingloriously  trampled  to  death.  A 
joint  debate  on  this  important  question  kept  us  occu- 
pied for  several  minutes.  We  finally  compromised  by 
fishing  down  a  few  boxes  from  the  platform  and  erecting 
a  barricade  of  sorts  to  protect  us  against  any  stray  kicks. 

As  we  sat  in  the  undignified  position  imposed  on  us 
by  circumstances,  we  exchanged  various  frivolous  re- 
marks, not  because  we  felt  particularly  gay,  but  be- 
cause we  had  to  do  something  to  keep  ourselves 
interested  and  to  keep  our  courage  up.  Bulle  resented 
this,  and  raised  his  head  to  look  at  me  reproachfully 
over  the  barricade,  and  say:  "Don't  talk  like  that;  it 
is  nothing  short  of  tempting  Providence." 

After  a  time  Blount  and  I  decided  to  make  a  recon- 
naissance in  force  and  see  how  the  car  was  getting  on. 
We  crawled  along  the  floor  to  a  place  from  which  we 
could  see  out  into  the  square.  The  soldiers  were  flat 
on  their  stomachs  behind  a  low  wall  that  extended 
around  the  small  circular  park  in  the  centre  of  the 
square,  and  behind  any  odd  shelter  they  could  find. 
The  car  lay  in  the  Une  of  fire  but  had  not  been  struck. 
We  were  sufiiciently  pessimistic  to  be  convinced  that 
it  would  go  up  in  smoke  before  the  row  was  over,  and 
took  a  good  look  at  our  shoes  to  see  whether  they  would 
last  through  a  walk  back  to  Brussels. 

Our  officer  came  out  from  behind  his  barricade  and 
showed  us  where  the  attacking  force  was  concealed — 
at  least  he  told  us  that  they  were  there  and  we  were 
willing  to  take  his  word  for  it  without  going  across  the 
street  to  make  a  first-hand  investigation. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  167 

He  tried  to  impress  us  with  the  black  sinfulness  of 
people  who  would  fire  upon  the  German  troops,  and 
called  our  particular  attention  to  the  proof  now  offered 
us  that  civilians  had  started  the  row  by  firing  on  Ger- 
man troops.  According  to  the  German  story,  which 
was  the  only  one  we  had  heard,  civilians  had  been 
hunted  dow^n  like  rats  in  garrets  and  cellars  and  shot 
down  in  cold  blood  in  the  streets  when  they  sought 
safety  in  flight.  To  my  mind  it  was  not  surprising 
that  men  driven  to  desperation  by  seeing  their  friends 
and  neighbours  murdered  in  cold  blood,  should  decide 
to  do  any  harm  possible  to  the  enemy.  Three  days  of 
the  reign  of  terror  that  had  been  described  to  us  was 
enough  to  account  for  anything,  and  the  fact  that 
civilians  were  firing  now  did  not  in  any  sense  prove 
that  they  were  guilty  of  starting  the  trouble.  For  all 
we  could  tell  they  may  have  started  it  or  they  may 
not,  but  firing  by  them  three  days  after  the  row 
began  was  no  proof  to  any  one  with  the  slightest  sense 
of  the  value  of  evidence.  On  the  other  hand,  the  story 
freely  told  us  by  the  Germans  as  to  their  own  behaviour, 
is  enough  to  create  the  darkest  presumptions  as  to  how 
the  trouble  started,  and  would  seem  to  place  the 
burden  of  proof  on  them  rather  than  on  the  Belgians. 

TMiile  we  were  talking  about  this  there  came  another 
rattle  of  fire,  and  we  scuttled  back  to  our  shelter,  among 
the  horses.  Every  now  and  then  a  surly  soldier  with 
two  huge  revolvers  came  and  looked  over  the  ledge  at 
us,  and  growled  out:  Was  machen  Sie  denn  liier?  fol- 
lowed by  some  doubting  remarks  as  to  our  right  to  be 
on  the  premises.  As  he  was  evidently  very  drunk  and 
bad-tempered  I  was  not  at  all  sure  that  he  would  not 


168  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

decide  on  his  own  responsibility  to  take  no  chances 
and  put  us  out  of  our  misery.  After  several  visits, 
however,  he  evidently  found  something  else  more  inter- 
esting, and  came  back  to  trouble  us  no  more. 

When  the  row  began  a  motor  had  been  despatched 
toward  Brussels  to  recall  some  troops  that  had  left 
a  few  hours  before.  Now  and  then  our  officer  came  in 
to  tell  us  what  he  thought  of  their  chances  of  getting 
back. 

On  one  of  these  visits,  Blount  remarked  by  way  of 
airy  persiflage,  that  that  drink  of  wine  that  had  been 
sent  for  was  a  long  time  coming.  Anything  as  subtle 
as  that  was  lost  on  our  friend,  for  he  walked  solemnly 
away,  only  to  reappear  in  a  few  minutes  with  a  bottle 
and  several  glasses  which  he  set  up  on  the  edge  of  the 
platform  and  filled  with  excellent  Burgundy.  We  stood 
up  among  the  horses  and  drained  a  bumper  of  the  stuff, 
while  the  officer  wandered  back  to  his  work.  He  had 
gone  calmly  out  into  the  thick  of  things  to  rescue  this 
bottle,  and  took  it  as  a  matter  of  course  that  we  should 
claim  the  drink  that  had  been  promised  us. 

Presently,  with  a  good  deal  of  noise,  a  fairly  large 
force  of  troops  came  marching  down  the  boulevard,  and 
took  up  positions  around  the  station.  Our  officer 
returned,  waving  a  smoking  revolver,  and  told  us  to 
lie  dow^n  as  flat  as  we  could  among  the  horses,  and 
not  to  move  unless  they  got  restive.  He  said  it  looked 
as  though  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  take  the  station 
by  storm,  and  that  there  might  be  a  brisk  fight. 

However,  there  were  only  a  few  scattering  shots, 
and  then  our  friend  came  back  and  told  us  that  we  had 
better  get  out  and  start  for  home  before  things  began 


— —    , 

• -^"   aih- 

l^i^^iH^HHii^HBBPW=3a» = 

m-:. 

■■■-1  *^? 

^^^H^^afe 

r^sb>^3  ^ 

l^^^^^^Bm.                        u*<^^I^IB^mH 

1^ 

MiW'  ^ 

•"  ^4'i  'i^'^S 

,.               .!*'  ^t"^.  ^      '-tS^^ 

^  '' '   '  ~^*    '«r''V!;k*'^HSMKjkr-Hc^ 

■^ "'  ■  ..-.  •  - 

\\  ^  ■:'""";-^lI 

Types  of  von  Arnim's  officers 


A  Landwelir  infantry  company 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  169 

again.  He  added,  however,  that  we  must  have  the 
permission  of  the  commanding  officer  who  was  on  the 
other  side  of  the  station,  but  offered  to  pilot  us  to  the 
great  man  and  help  us  get  the  permission.  The  way- 
lay straight  out  into  the  square,  in  full  view  of  the 
houses  across  the  way,  along  the  front  of  the  station 
just  behind  the  troops  and  into  the  raihoad  yard  on 
the  other  side. 

That  station  seemed  about  four  miles  long,  and  the 
officer  was  possessed  of  a  desire  to  loiter  by  the  way, 
recounting  anecdotes  of  his  school  days.  He  would 
walk  along  for  a  few  steps  and  then  pause  to  tell 
BuUe  some  long  and  rambling  yarn  about  his  uncle. 
BuUe  would  take  him  by  the  arm  and  get  him  in  motion 
again.  Then  the  old  chap  would  transfer  his  con- 
versational fire  to  another  member  of  the  party,  and 
we  were  obliged  almost  to  pull  him  the  length  of  the 
square. 

The  commanding  officer  was  a  pleasant-faced  little 
man  who  stood  in  the  shelter  of  a  water  tank  and 
received  us  in  a  puzzled  way,  as  though  he  wondered 
what  civilians  were  doing  in  that  neighbourhood  any- 
way. Permission  was  readily  granted  for  us  to  leave, 
with  the  ludicrous  proviso  that  we  did  so  "at  our  own. 
risk."  Then  Bulle  put  everybody  in  good  humour  by 
inquiring  innocently  if  there  was  any  danger.  Every- 
body burst  into  peals  of  laughter,  and  we  were  escorted 
to  our  car  by  the  same  slow -moving  officer,  who  insisted 
on  exchanging  cards  with  us  and  expressing  the  hope 
that  we  should  meet  again,  which  we  could  not 
honestly  reciprocate.  Then,  after  an  hour  and  a  half 
in  the  station,  we  got  away  amid  a  great  waving  of  hands. 


170  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

The  boulevards  were  deserted  save  for  the  troops 
coming  back  into  the  town.  New  houses  were  burning 
that  had  been  intact  in  the  afternoon.  After  passing 
the  Porte  de  Tirlemont,  we  began  to  see  people  again — 
little  groups  that  had  come  out  into  the  streets  through 
a  craving  for  company,  and  stood  huddled  together 
listening  to  the  fighting  in  the  lower  part  of  the  town. 

In  harmony  with  the  policy  of  terrorising  the  popu- 
lation, the  Germans  have  trained  them  to  throw  up 
their  hands  as  soon  as  any  one  comes  in  sight,  in  order  to 
prove  that  they  are  unarmed  and  defenseless.  And  the 
way  they  do  it,  the  abject  fear  that  is  evident,  shows 
that  failure  to  comply  with  the  rule  is  not  hghtly 
punished. 

Our  worst  experience  of  this  was  when  in  coming 
around  a  corner  we  came  upon  a  little  girl  of  about 
seven,  carrying  a  canary  in  a  cage.  As  soon  as  she 
saw  us,  she  threw  up  her  hands  and  cried  out  some- 
thing we  did  not  understand.  Thinking  that  she  wanted 
to  stop  us  with  a  warning  of  some  sort,  we  put  on  the 
brakes  and  drew  up  beside  her.  Then  she  burst  out 
crying  with  fear,  and  we  saw  that  she  was  in  terror 
of  her  life.  We  called  out  to  reassure  her,  but  she 
turned  and  ran  like  a  hunted  animal. 

It  was  hard  to  see  the  fear  of  others — townspeople, 
peasants,  priests,  and  feeble  old  nims  who  dropped 
their  bundles  and  threw  up  their  hands,  their  eyes 
starting  with  fear.    The  whole  thing  was  a  nightmare. 

We  were  dreadfully  depressed,  and  rode  along  in 
silence  until  BuUe  turned  around  from  the  front  seat 
and  inquired  in  a  matter-of-fact  voice: 

"What  sort  of  wine  was  that  we  drank  at  the  station?  " 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  171 

We  told  him,  and  then  he  shook  his  head  and  said 
as  though  to  himself: 

"I  drank  a  big  glass  of  it,  but  I  was  so  frightened 
that  I  didn't  taste  it  at  all." 

That  broke  the  edge  of  the  strain  we  were  under, 
and  we  had  a  good  laugh  in  which  BuUe  joined. 

And  so  back  to  the  Legation  without  further  mishap, 
to  find  everybody  worrying  about  us,  and  the  Minister 
putting  his  foot  down  and  announcing  that  there 
were  to  be  no  more  expeditions  of  the  sort,  no  matter 
what  the  reason  for  them. 

Note — The  foregoing  is  an  impression  of  one  afternoon 
at  Louvain,  taken  from  a  journal  written  at  the  time. 
It  was  intended  to  pass  on  the  question  of  responsibility 
for  precipitating  the  orgy  of  murder  and  bestiality 
indulged  in  by  the  German  army  from  the  25th  of 
August  until  the  30th,  when  orders  were  received  from 
Berlin  to  stop  the  destruction  and  restore  public  order. 

Many  subsequent  visits  to  Louvain,  and  conversa- 
tions with  people  who  were  there  when  the  trouble 
began,  have  only  served  to  strengthen  the  impression 
that  the  whole  affair  was  part  of  a  cold-blooded  and 
calculated  plan  to  terrorise  the  civilian  population. 

While  we  were  there,  it  was  frankly  stated  that  the 
town  was  being  wiped  out;  that  its  destruction  was 
being  carried  out  under  definite  orders.  When  the 
German  Government  realised  the  horror  and  loathing 
with  which  the  civilised  world  learned  of  the  fate  of 
Louvain,  the  orders  were  cancelled  and  the  story  sent 
out  that  the  German  forces  had  tried  to  prevent  the 
destruction,  had  fought  the  fire,  and  by  good  fortune 


172  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

had  been  able  to  save  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  Never  has 
a  government  lied  more  brazenly.  When  we  arrived, 
the  destruction  of  the  town  was  being  carried  on  in 
an  orderly  and  systematic  way  that  showed  careful 
preparation.  The  only  thing  that  saved  the  Hotel 
de  Ville  was  the  fact  that  the  German  troops  had  not 
progressed  that  far  with  their  work  when  the  orders 
were  countermanded  from  Berlin. 

It  was  only  when  he  learned  how  civilisation  regarded 
his  crimes,  that  the  Emperor's  heart  began  to  bleed. 

The  true  facts  as  to  the  destruction  of  Louvain  will 
startle  the  world — ^hardened  though  it  has  become  to 
surprise  at  German  crimes.  Unfortunately,  however, 
it  is  impossible  to  publish  the  details  at  this  time  with- 
out endangering  the  hves  of  people  still  in  Belgium 
under  German  domination.  But  these  people  will 
speak  for  themselves  when  the  Germans  have  been 
driven  from  Belgian  soil,  and  they  are  once  more  free 
to  speak  the  truth. 

During  the  afternoon  Count  Clary  had  come  over  and 
announced  that  Austria-Hungary  had  declared  war 
on  Belgium,  and  that  he  had  to  leave  at  once.  He 
has  turned  his  Legation  over  to  us.  I  went  around 
to  see  him  late  in  the  evening,  and  made  the  final 
arrangements.  This  afternoon  the  Danish  Minister 
came  in  and  turned  his  Legation  over  to  us,  as  he  ex- 
pects to  go  in  a  day  or  two.  That  will  make  four 
Legations  besides  our  own  under  our  protection. 

Austrian  guns  have  been  in  action  for  some  days, 
and  now  it  has  been  thought  worth  while  to  regularise 
the  situation.     The  Austrian  Minister  has,  therefore. 


Major  von  Herwarth   (on  the  left)   at  the  German  outpost  near 

Hofstade 


Monsieur  Emile  Francqui,  President  of  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Comite  National  de  Secours  et  d'Ahmentation 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  173 

under   instructions    from   his    Government    addressed 
the  following  note  to  the  Belgian  Government: 

August  28,  19 IJ^. 
"Whereas  Belgium,  having  refused  to  accept  the  proposals 
made  to  her  on  several  occasions  by  Germany,  is  affording  her 
military  assistance  to  France  and  Great  Britain,  both  of  which 
Powers  have  declared  war  upon  Austria-Hungary,  and  whereas, 
as  has  just  been  proved  {no  indication  as  to  hoio  or  when  it  has 
been  proved),  Austrian  and  Hungarian  subjects  in  Belgium  have 
been  obliged  to  submit,  under  the  very  eyes  of  the  Belgian  author- 
ities, to  treatment  contrary  to  the  most  primitive  demands  of 
humanity  and  inadmissible  even  toward  subjects  of  an  enemy 
State,  therefore  Austria  is  obliged  to  break  off  diplomatic  relations 
and  considers  herself  from  this  moment  in  a  state  of  war  with 
Belgium.  I  am  leaving  the  country  with  the  staff  of  the  Legation, 
and  am  entrusting  the  protection  of  Austrian  interests  to  the 
United  States  Minister  in  Belgium.  The  Austro-Hungarian 
Government  is  forwarding  his  passports  to  Count  Errembault  de 
Dudzeele. 

Clary." 

This  is  the  first  we  have  heard  of  any  mistreatment 
of  Austrians  in  this  country,  but  then  they  probably 
had  to  advance  some  sort  of  reason  for  going  to  war.* 


*  The  Belgian  Government  sent  the  following  reply  to  the  Austrian  declaration  of  war. 

Antwerp,  August  29,  1914- 

Belgium  has  always  entertained  friendly  relations  with  all  her  neighbours  without  dis- 
tinction. She  has  scrupulously  fulfilled  the  duties  imposed  upon  her  by  her  neutrality.  If 
she  has  not  been  able  to  accept  Germany's  proposals,  it  is  because  those  proposals  contemplated 
the  violation  of  her  engagements  toward  Europe,  engagements  which  form  the  conditions 
of  the  creation  of  the  Belgian  Kingdom.  She  has  been  unable  to  admit  that  a  people,  however 
weak  they  may  be,  should  fail  in  their  duty  and  sacrifice  their  honour  by  yielding  to  force. 
The  Government  have  waited,  not  only  until  the  ultimatum  had  expired,  but  also  until  Belgian 
territory  had  been  violated  by  German  troops,  before  appealing  to  France  and  Groat  Britain, 
guarantors  of  her  neutrality,  under  the  same  terms  as  are  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary, 
to  cooperate  in  the  name  and  in  virtue  of  the  treaties  in  defense  of  Belgian  territory. 

By  repelling  the  invaders  by  force  of  arms,  she  has  not  even  committed  a  hostile  act  as  laid 
down  by  the  provisions  of  Article  10  of  The  Hague  Convention,  respecting  the  Rights  and 
Duties  of  Neutral  Powers. 

Germany  has  herself  recognised  that  her  attack  constitutes  a  violation  of  international 
law,  and  being  unable  to  justify  it,  she  has  pleaded  her  strategical  interests. 

Belgium  formally  denies  the  allegation  that  Austrian  and  Hungarian  subjects  have  suffered 
treatment  in  Belgium  contrary  to  the  most  primitive  demands  of  humanity. 

The  Belgian  Government,  from  the  very  beginning  of  hostilities,  have  issued  the  strictest 
orders  for  the  protection  of  Austro-Hungarian  persons  and  property. 

Davignon. 


174  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

The Charge   came   around  this   afternoon    to 

ask  about  getting  to  Antwerp,  where  he  wants  to  flee 
for  protection.  He  was  very  indignant  because  the 
MiUtary  Governor  had  refused  to  allow  him  to  go. 
When  I  asked  him  on  what  ground  the  permission  had 
been  refused,  he  said  that  it  had  not  exactly  been  refused, 
but  that  he  could  go  only  on  his  own  responsibihty. 
He  wanted  us  to  protest  against  this.  I  meanly  sug- 
gested to  him  that  he  would  be  in  much  more  serious 
danger  if  he  had  an  escort  of  German  troops  to  take 
him  to  the  Belgian  Unes,  and  he  left  in  a  terrible  state 
of  mind. 

Mr.  Whitlock  and  the  Spanish  Minister  went  to  call 
on  the  Mihtary  Governor  this  afternoon  to  get  oflf 
some  telegrams  w^hich  he  had  promised  to  send,  and 
to  talk  over  the  general  situation.  After  that  they 
went  to  call  on  the  Burgomaster,  and  came  back  with 
a  pretty  good  idea  of  what  was  happening  in  our  fair 
city. 

The  Governor  loaded  them  up  with  a  large  budget 
of  official  news,  showing  that  Germany  was  victorious 
all  along  every  line;  that  she  was  not  only  chasing  the 
French  and  English  armies  around  in  circles,  but  that 
Uhlans  were  within  forty  kilometers  of  Paris,  and  that 
five  Russian  army  corps  had  been  beaten  in  Eastern 
Prussia.  It  really  looks  as  though  things  were  going 
pretty  badly  for  the  Alhes,  but  w^e  have  absolutely 
nothing  but  German  news  and  cannot  form  an  accurate 
opinion. 

The  Germans  are  particularly  bitter  against  the 
Belgian  clergy  and  insist  that  the  priests  have  incited 
the  people  to  attack  the  German  troops  and  mistreat 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  175 

the  wounded.  So  far  as  I  can  learn,  this  is  utter 
rubbish.  The  authorities  of  the  church  have  pubhcly 
exhorted  the  people  to  remain  calm  and  to  refrain 
from  hostile  acts,  pointing  out  that  any  provocation 
would  bring  sure  punishment  from  the  German  military 
authorities.  The  priests  I  have  seen  have  been  at 
great  pains  to  set  an  example  that  the  Germans  should 
be  the  first  to  commend. 

The  clergy  has  a  tremendous  influence  in  Belgium, 
and  is  sincerely  respected.  They  will  be  a  vital  force 
in  holding  the  people  together  in  their  patriotic  devo- 
tion, and  in  maintaining  public  tranquillity. 

A  new  Governor-General  is  to  be  sent  us  here.  The 
Minister  could  not  remember  his  name.  I  am  curious, 
von  Luttwitz  will  remain  for  the  present  at  least. 

The  Burgomaster  reports  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Brussels  are  calm  and  that  there  need  be  no  fear  of 
trouble  unless  they  are  allowed  to  go  hungry.  A  com- 
mittee has  been  formed  to  revictual  the  town,  and  is 
working  night  and  day.  Monsieur  Solvay  has  given 
a  million  francs,  and  other  Belgians  given  large  sums. 
Soup  kitchens  are  being  started  for  the  poor  and  the 
question  of  bringing  food  supplies  from  neutral  coun- 
tries is  being  taken  up  and  pushed  with  activity. 
These  Belgians  are  admirable  in  the  way  they  handle 
things  of  this  sort.  They  all  realise  the  importance  of 
keeping  quiet  so  as  to  avoid  any  possibility  of  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  Louvain  business.  It  would  take  very  httle 
to  start  something  of  the  sort  here  and  the  result 
would  be  the  same — the  destruction  of  the  city.  Natu- 
rally everybody  is  turning  to  and  trying  to  head  ofif 
any  excuse  for  violence. 


176  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Brussels,  Sunday,  August  30,  19H. — Our  place  has 
got  to  be  the  local  diplomatic  corner  grocery,  where 
all  the  village  loafers  come  to  do  their  heavy  loafing. 
They  bring  in  all  the  fantastic  rumours  that  are  abroad 
in  the  land,  and  discuss  them  with  all  solemnity.  In 
the  last  day  or  so  we  have  had  it  "on  the  best  author- 
ity" that  the  Queen  of  Holland  has  had  her  consort 
shot  because  of  his  pro-German  sympathies;  that  the 
Kaiser  has  given  up  all  hope  and  taken  refuge  in 
Switzerland;  that  the  United  States  had  declared  war 
on  Germany  and  Austria;  that  the  King  and  Queen  of 
the  Belgians  had  fled  to  Holland,  and  that  all  was  over. 
These  are  just  a  few. 

Troops  have  been  pouring  through  the  town  steadily 
all  day  on  the  way  to  Vilvorde,  where  the  Belgians  are 
still  fighting,  and  to  the  south,  where  there  is  heavy 
cannonading  going  on.  The  Belgians  are  making  a 
big  fight  on  the  Antwerp  road,  evidently  to  hold  the 
attention  of  one  German  army  corps  and  lighten 
France's  load  by  just  that  much.  It  is  a  hopeless  fight 
so  far  as  they  themselves  are  concerned,  but  it  throws 
their  courage  and  fighting  qualities  into  higher  relief. 

We  are  now  the  pampered  pets  of  both  sides.  The 
German  troops  cheer  our  flag  when  the  motor  noses  its 
way  through  them.  The  people  of  the  town  are  equally 
enthusiastic,  and  many  of  them  are  wearing  small 
American  flags  in  their  buttonholes.  How  long  it  will 
last  there  is  no  telling,  but  while  it  does,  our  w^ork  is 
made  just  that  much  easier. 

Lunched  at  the  Palace  Hotel  with  BuUe  and  Blount. 
Riseis,  the  Italian  Secretary,  came  in  and  joined  us. 
Bulle  told  him  the  story  of  our  trip  to  Louvain  with 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  177 

embellishments  that  made  my  eyes  start  from  my 
head.  I  had  not  realised  what  a  desperate  adventure 
we  had  been  on  until  I  heard  it  as  it  should  be  told. 
It  made  the  real  thing  seem  mild. 

Before  lunch  we  drove  to  Blount's  to  learn  whether 
the  cannonading  to  the  south  was  still  going  on.  It 
was — ^heavy  booming  of  German  guns;  no  French  guns 
to  be  heard.  Late  in  the  afternoon  Blount  and  I 
drove  oflF  into  the  country  to  see  w^hether  we  could 
locate  the  fighting  to  the  south.  We  got  as  far  as 
Nivelles,  but  all  was  as  peaceful  as  it  should  be  on  a 
perfect  Sunday  afternoon.  The  people  there  were  sur- 
prised that  anyone  should  have  thought  there  was  fight- 
ing there.  It  was  still  much  farther  to  the  south. 
We  drove  around  in  search  of  evidence  of  fighting,  but 
could  find  none.  And  this  after  circumstantial  ac- 
counts of  hand-to-hand  struggle  through  all  this  part 
of  the  country! 

August  31st. — ^This  morning  began  with  a  troop  of 
people  in  to  tell  us  that  the  rough  work  was  about  to 
begin,  and  that  Brussels  was  to  go  up  in  smoke.  There 
is  a  good  deal  of  unrest  in  the  lower  end  of  town  and 
trouble  may  break  out  at  any  time.  Bad  feeling  has 
grown  a  good  deal  in  the  past  few  days  and  one  good 
row  would  throw  the  fat  in  the  fire.  I  went  through 
the  rough  part  of  town  late  this  afternoon  and  found 
patrols  everywhere,  heavily  armed  and  swaggering 
about  in  groups  of  four.  For  their  own  sake  I  hope 
the  people  will  not  do  anything  foolish. 

People  are  making  another  effort  to  get  away  and  are 
not  finding  it  easy.    At  six  this  morning  a  crowd  left  here 


178  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

for  Ninove,  twenty  kilometers  to  the  west.  Twenty- 
five  hundred  of  them  clung  all  over  the  trams  that 
make  the  trip.  At  Ninove  they  walked  a  mile  or  so, 
carrying  their  belongings,  and  caught  a  train  to  Alost, 
w^here  they  changed  for  another  train  for  Ghent.  Good- 
ness knows  how  many  changes  they  had  ahead  of  them 
after  that.  The  trip  w^as  supposed  to  end  safely  in  Ost- 
end  some  time  this  evening.    It  usually  takes  two  hours. 

Hearing  that  the  train  service  was  open  and  that 
boats  were  running  from  Ostend  to  Folkstone,  we 
decided  to  verify  the  tidings  and  then  get  off  some  of 
our  people,  who  should  have  gone  long  ago. 

To  make  sure  Blount  and  I  motored  down  to  Ninove 
after  lunch  to  telephone  the  Consul  at  Ostend  and 
learn  the  true  state  of  affairs.  When  w^e  reached 
Ninove  we  found  the  station  so  packed  wath  refugees 
that  there  was  no  getting  near  the  telephone  bureau. 
The  Chef  de  Gare,  who  had  never  in  his  long  and 
honourable  career  had  such  a  mob  to  lord  it  over,  was 
so  puffed  up  that  he  could  not  get  down  near  enough 
to  earth  to  hear  our  questions,  so  we  decided  to  pro- 
ceed to  Alost  and  try  our  luck  there. 

We  motored  over  in  short  order  and  got  quick  com- 
munication with  the  Consul  at  Ostend.  He  had  very 
little  news  save  that  a  lot  of  British  Marines  had  been 
landed  there  and  had  to-day  been  taken  away  again. 
He  gave  us  what  we  wanted  in  the  way  of  steamer 
information. 

I  got  the  Consul -General  at  Antwerp  on  the  tele- 
phone and  learned  that  all  was  well  there. 

As  I  came  out  of  the  booth  from  this  second  call,  I 
was  held  up  by  a  Garde  Civique,  who  inquired  if  I  was 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  179 

the  Monsieur  de  Vautomohile,  He  would  like  to  see 
my  papers.  Certainly.  Then  I  remembered  that  I 
had  left  all  my  Belgian  papers  at  the  Legation  and  had 
nothing  but  papers  in  German  from  the  military 
authorities.  I  showed  them  anyway.  Before  he  could 
examine  us  any  further,  three  eager  amateur  Sherlocks 
came  bursting  into  the  room  and  took  charge  of  the 
proceedings.  The  leader  pointed  an  accusing  finger  at 
Blount,  and  exclaimed,  "You  have  come  from  Ninove!" 
Blount  admitted  it.  "You  had  a  third  person  in  the 
car  when  you  left  there!"  ''Pas  du  tout''  "On  the 
contrary,  I  have  three  witnesses  to  prove  it."  Aside 
from  the  fact  that  nobody  could  have  got  to  Alost  in 
the  time  we  had,  it  made  no  real  difference  how  many 
people  we  had  in  the  car,  and  Blount  said  as  much. 
Then  our  accuser  changed  his  plan  of  attack.  "I 
observed  you  when  you  arrived,  and  you  were  speaking 
a  language  which  was  perhaps  not  German,  but  sounded 
like  English."  "It  was,"  said  Blount.  "Aha,"  trium- 
phantly, "but  you  said  you  were  Americans!" 

By  this  time  the  Chef  de  Gare  had  come  to  answer 
our  questions  and  we  waved  our  persecutors  aside 
while  we  talked  to  him.  They  kept  quiet  and  meekly 
stood  aside,  as  we  bade  them.  While  we  talked  with 
our  functionary,  I  looked  out  on  the  square  and  saw 
that  we  were  a  real  sensation.  The  Garde  Civique 
had  been  called  out  and  was  keeping  the  place  clear. 
•The  crowd  was  banked  up  solid  around  the  other  three 
sides  of  the  square.  They  looked  hopeful  of  seeing 
the  German  spies  brought  out  and  shot.  By  signing 
our  names  on  a  scrap  of  paper,  which  the  amateurs 
compared  with  the  signatures  on  different  papers  we 


180  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

had  about  us,  we  convinced  them  that  we  were  harm- 
less citizens,  and  were  allowed  to  go.  The  crowd 
seemed  greatly  disappointed  to  see  us  walk  out  free. 
The  Garde  Civique  let  them  loose  as  we  got  in  the  car, 
and  they  came  thronging  around  for  a  good  close  look 
at  us. 

We  honk-honked  our  way  through  them,  thanking 
our  lucky  stars  we  had  not  had  a  worse  time  of  it. 

At  the  edge  of  the  town  we  looked  up  and  saw  two 
German  aeroplanes  snooping  around.  A  minute  later 
a  crowd  of  people  surged  across  the  street  to  bar  our 
way,  shouting  that  we  must  go  no  farther,  as  the  Ger- 
mans were  approaching  the  town  and  that  it  was 
dangerous  to  proceed.  Two  young  officers  came  across 
the  street  to  tell  us  in  great  glee  that  they  had  made  a 
dash  in  a  motor  at  the  first  German  outpost  and  had 
brought  in  four  prisoners.  They  were  bursting  with 
joy  in  their  exploit,  but  by  this  time  they  may  them- 
selves be  prisoners. 

In  a  few  minutes  we  came  to  the  first  German  out- 
post, and  had  our  papers  carefully  examined.  From 
then  on  we  were  held  up  every  few  yards  and  nearly 
had  our  papers  worn  out  from  much  handling.  At  one 
place  a  young  Lieutenant  looked  over  our  papers  and 
burst  out  into  roars  of  laughter  at  the  name  of  von 
Jarotzky.  He  called  to  other  officers.  They  came  up, 
looked  at  the  signature,  and  also  burst  out  into  loud 
laughter.  I  asked  them  what  the  joke  was,  but  they 
were  not  telling. 

We  got  in  about  seven  o'clock,  without  incident. 

Went  to  see  von  Herwarth  after  dinner  on  behalf 
of  a  poor  Belgian  woman  whose  husband,  a  Major  in 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  181 

the  Grenadiers,  is  dangerously  wounded  and  in  the 
military  hospital  at  Antwerp.  The  Germans  are  going 
to  send  her  up  to-morrow  on  a  motor  with  some  Bel- 
gian ofl3cers,  who  are  being  exchanged.  I  saw  the  aide- 
de-camp  who  is  going  through  with  the  car  and  asked 
him  to  be  nice  to  her.  Then  to  her  house,  to  shut  up 
a  lot  of  old  women  of  both  sexes  who  were  trying  to 
dissuade  her  from  going,  on  the  ground  that  the  Ger- 
mans would  hold  her  as  a  hostage.  I  suppose  she  will 
beoflP. 

Mrs.  Bridges,*  wife  of  the  former  British  Military 
Attache,  was  in  this  evening  for  help.  A  British  pris- 
oner told  of  seeing  Colonel  Bridges  fall  from  his  horse 
at  Mons,  mount  again,  ride  a  little  way  and  fall.  She 
cannot  get  to  Mons,  so  we  are  getting  her  off  to  France 
via  England,  in  the  hope  that  she  may  find  him  on 
that  side. 

It  is  a  pitiful  business,  and  the  worst  of  it  is  that  they 
all  think  we  have  some  miraculous  power  to  do  any- 
thing we  like  for  them.     I  only  wish  we  could. 

Brussels,  September  1,  1914-.— The  first  thing  this 
morning  I  had  a  pow-wow  with  Hulse  about  how  to 
handle  the  funds  that  are  being  gathered  to  relieve  the 
enormous  amount  of  distress  that  we  shall  have  to 
meet  here.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  it  even  now.  All  the 
big  factories  are  closed.  Most  of  the  shops  have  their 
shutters  up,  and  the  streets  are  filled  with  idle  people. 
Importations  of  foodstuffs,  even  from  the  outlying  dis- 
tricts, have  stopped  dead.     Conditions  are  bad  enough 


*  Colonel  Bridges  was  badly  wounded  at  Mons,  but  escaped,  recovered,  was  wounded  again 
at  Nieuport,  but  survived  both,  and  having  received  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-General,  was  the 
military  member  of  the  Balfour  Mission  to  the  United  States  in  1917. 


182  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

in  all  conscience,  but  they  are  nothing  compared 
to  what  we  have  ahead,  when  cold  weather  comes  on. 

A  lot  of  bankers  and  big  business  men  have  got 
together  to  wrestle  with  the  financial  problem.  The 
Burgomaster  has  his  people  at  work,  trying  to  get 
their  hands  on  foodstuffs  and  coordinate  their  work. 

I  went  to  the  Foreign  Office  and  talked  things  over 
with  von  Herwarth.  He  straightened  out  some  of  the 
tangles,  and  we  were  able  to  get  things  moving. 

I  have  no  trouble  with  the  higher  officers  at  head- 
quarters, but  I  never  go  there  that  I  do  not  want 
to  murder  the  large  brutes  of  non-commissioned 
officers  who  guard  the  door.  They  wear  large  brass 
plates  on  their  chest  and  look  like  bock-beer  signs. 
They  have  a  free  and  careless  way  of  booting  every- 
body out  the  door  and  refusing  to  listen  to  anybody. 
I  get  fighting  mad  every  time  I  go  there  and  this  morn- 
ing got  sufficiently  roused  to  develop  considerable 
fluency  in  German.  I  pictured  to  the  large  rough-neck 
some  of  the  things  that  were  going  to  happen  to  him 
if  I  was  not  let  in;  he  was  sufficiently  impressed  to 
permit  me  to  stand  on  the  sidewalk  while  my  card  was 
sent  in.  T\Tien  I  got  in  I  made  a  few  well-chosen 
remarks  on  the  manners,  if  any,  of  the  watch  dogs  of 
the  Ministry. 

From  the  Ministry  I  went  to  the  Societe  Generale, 
where  I  was  asked  to  attend  a  conference  between  the 
bankers  of  the  city.  There  were  ten  of  them  in  the  big 
directors'  room,  and  they  worked  to  some  purpose. 
M.  Francqui,  the  director  and  leading  spirit  of  the 
Societe  Generale,  presided  over  the  meeting.  He 
explained  the  general  situation  simply  and  clearly,  and 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  183 

stated  what  they  had  done  and  wanted  to  do.  They 
had  three  points  on  which  they  wanted  advice,  and 
they  were  brought  up  and  disposed  of  one  at  a  time. 
By  twelve  o'clock  I  got  away,  and  felt  that  the  hour 
I  had  put  in  there  had  been  well  spent. 

When  I  got  back  to  the  Legation,  I  found  a  nice 
Belgian  who  had  no  request  to  make  of  us,  but  wanted 
to  tell  his  story  to  somebody,  and  a  terrible  story  it 
was,  too.  He  had  fitted  up  his  chateau  near  Mons 
as  a  Red  Cross  hospital.  During  the  battle  there  a 
week  ago,  102  British  wounded  had  been  brought  in. 
The  Germans  found  the  chateau  a  hindrance  in  their 
operations,  so  got  it  out  of  the  way  by  battering  down 
the  walls  with  artillery,  and  then  throwing  grenades 
into  the  building  to  set  it  on  fire.  There  was  great 
difficulty  in  getting  the  wounded  out  and  hiding  them 
in  such  shelter  as  was  to  be  found.  One  man,  at  least, 
was  burned  alive  in  his  bed.  It  seems  incredible  that 
Red  Cross  hospitals  should  be  attacked,  but  stories 
come  in  from  every  side,  tending  to  show  that  they 
are. 

Beside  this  man's  property  there  is  a  railway  cross- 
ing. When  a  troop  train  passed  over  it  day  before 
yesterday,  there  was  an  explosion  like  the  report  of 
a  rifle.  The  train  was  immediately  stopped.  The 
officer  in  command  annoimced  that  civilians  had  fired 
upon  his  train,  and  ordered  all  the  men  in  the  vicinity 
taken  prisoners.  Then,  refusing  to  listen  to  explanation 
or  discussion,  he  had  them  all  stood  up  against  a  wall 
and  shot.  When  it  was  all  over,  he  listened  to  ex- 
planations and  learned  that  the  report  was  that  of 
a  cap  placed  in  the  switch  by  the  German  railway 


184  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

men  as  a  signal  to  stop  the  train  before  reaching  the 
next  station.  By  way  of  reparation,  he  then  graciously 
admitted  that  the  civilians  were  innocent.  But,  as 
my  caller  said:  "The  civilians  were  also  dead." 

Another  pleasant  thing  the  Germans  seem  to  be 
doing  is  arresting  peaceful  citizens  by  hundreds  and 
sending  them  back  to  Germany  to  harvest  the  crops. 
They  will  also  reap  a  fine  harvest  of  hatred  for  genera- 
tions to  come. 

Poor  Bulle  is  in  considerable  doubt  as  to  his  status. 
For  many  months  he  has  not  heard  from  his  Govern- 
ment, if  any,  and  has  not  been  able  to  get  a  word 
as  to  whether  he  is  Charge  d'Affaires  or  not.  I  told 
him  to-day  that  he  had  a  rather  unique  situation  as 
the  representative  of  a  country  without  a  Government  to 
a  Government  without  a  country.  He  extracted  a 
chuckle  from  that. 

Blount  made  up  his  mind  to  leave  for  America  this 
afternoon,  by  way  of  Ostend  and  England.  His 
family  was  all  ready  to  start,  but  when  he  went  down 
to  headquarters  to  get  a  laisser-passer  it  was  refused. 
Operations  are  apparently  about  to  be  started  in 
tout  le  bazar,  and  they  don't  want  stray  civiHans  seeing 
too  much.  Blount  will  now  settle  down  here  for  the 
present.     His  loss  is  our  gain. 

The  Danish  Minister  was  in  again  this  afternoon. 
He  is  going  away,  and  has  finally  turned  his  Legation 
over  to  us.  We  now  have  four  Legations  besides  our 
own — German,  British,  Austro-Hungarian,  and  Danish. 

One  little  thing  the  Germans  have  done  here  that 
is  echt  Deutsch  is  to  change  the  clocks  on  the  railway 
stations  and  public  buildings  to  German  time.    Every 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  185 

other  clock  in  towTi  continues  about  its  business  in  the 
same  old  way,  and  the  change  only  serves  to  arouse 
resentment. 

Another  thing  is,  that  on  entering  a  town,  they 
hold  the  Burgomaster,  the  Procureur  du  Roi  and  other 
authorities  as  hostages,  to  ensure  good  behaviour  by 
the  population.  Of  course  the  hoodlum  class  would 
like  nothing  better  than  to  see  their  natural  enemies, 
the  defenders  of  law  and  order,  ignominiously  shot, 
and  they  do  not  restrain  themselves  a  bit  on  account 
of  the  hostages.    Just  lack  of  imagination. 

September  2nd, — ^A  paper,  smuggled  through  the 
lines  from  Antwerp  this  morning,  gives  the  news  that 
the  Queen  has  left  for  England,  with  the  royal  children; 
adding,  ''she  is  expected  back  in  a  few  days."  This 
move  is  evidently  in  anticipation  of  the  bombarding 
of  Antwerp. 

Now  and  then  a  Belgian  has  the  satisfaction  of 
getting  in  a  gentle  dig  at  the  Germans;  although,  if 
the  dig  is  too  gentle,  the  chances  are  the  digee  does 
not  know  it.  Last  week  Countess  Z ,  aged  eighty- 
four,  who  is  living  alone  in  her  chateau,  was  obliged 
to  put  up  a  German  General  and  his  staff.  She  with- 
drew to  her  own  rooms,  and  did  not  put  in  an  appear- 
ance during  the  two  or  three  days  that  they  were 
there.  When  the  time  came  for  them  to  leave,  the 
General  sent  word  that  he  would  like  to  see  her.  She 
sent  back  a  message,  asking  to  be  excused.  The  General 
was  insistent,  however,  and  finally  the  little  old  lady 
came  reluctantly  down  the  stairs  into  the  great  hall, 
stopping   three   or   four   steps   from   the   bottom   and 


186  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

gazing  down  upon  her  lodgers  with  a  quizzical  smile. 
They  all  clicked  their  heels  and  bowed,  and  then  the 
General  stepped  forward  a  few  paces  and,  in  his  best 
manner,  said  that  they  could  not  go  away  without 
thanking  her  for  all  that  had  been  done  to  make  them 
comfortable  during  the  time  they  had  had  the  honour 
of  being  her  guests.  When  he  had  quite  finished,  the 
little  old  lady  replied  in  her  gentle  soft  voice: 

''Messieurs,  vous  navez  pas  a  me  remercier,  Je  ne 
vous  avals  pas  invites  J  ^ 

Brussels,  September  2,  19H, — ^A  beautiful  aide-de- 
camp of  Field-Marshal  von  der  Goltz  turned  up  this 
afternoon,  and  announced  that,  if  agreeable.  His 
Excellency  the  Governor- General,  would  call  to-morrow 
afternoon  between  four  and  five.  We  are  looking 
forward  with  a  good  deal  of  interest  to  seeing  the  big 
man.  He  arrived  yesterday,  but  has  kept  so  quiet 
that  nobody  knew  he  was  here.  The  aide-de-camp 
nearly  wept  on  my  shoulder;  said  there  was  nobody 
in  the  General's  party  who  knew  Brussels,  and  that 
they  were  having  a  terrible  time  to  find  their  w^ay 
around  the  town.  He'll  probably  have  greater  worries 
before  he  gets  through. 

We  have  at  last  heard  from  McCutcheon,  Cobb, 
Lewis,  Bennett,  etc.  A  telegram  came  to-day  from 
the  Consul  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  asking  that  we  look 
after  their  baggage  at  the  Palace  Hotel.  From  this 
we  judge  that  they  were  arrested  and  sent  back  to 
Germany  on  a  troop  train.  They  left  here  for  Mons, 
and  goodness  only  knows  what  adventures  they  have 
been  through  since  we  last  saw  them. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  187 

Brussels^  September  3,  1914. — ^This  afternoon,  at  four 
o'clock,  von  der  Goltz  (Field-Marshal  Baron  von  der 
Goltz  Pacha,  to  be  exact)  arrived  with  a  staff  of  seven 
officers  to  make  a  formal  call.  A  crowd  quickly 
gathered  in  the  street,  as  their  big  gray  mihtary  cars 
snorted  up  to  the  door.  All  the  neighbourhood  was 
in  a  great  state  of  excitement.  The  great  man  is  pretty 
old  and  doddery,  wears  spectacles  about  an  inch  thick, 
and  a  large  collection  of  decorations.  His  staff  was 
also  brilliant  in  decorations  and  silver  helmets,  etc. 
I  met  them  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  and  escorted  them 
up.  The  Marshal  is  apparently  blind  as  a  bat,  for  he 
never  turned  on  the  landings  and  would  have  walked 
straight  into  the  walls  if  I  had  not  steered  him  around 
the  corners. 

After  one  good  look  we  decided  that  he  was  to  be 
a  figure  head  and  leave  the  real  work  to  the  troop  of 
officers  and  functionaries  he  had  brought  with  him. 

It  was  supposed  to  be  a  purely  formal  call,  but  the 
old  gentleman  seemed  to  have  no  thought  of  leaving, 
and  did  not  budge  for  half  an  hour.  The  conversation 
was  not  thrilling. 

They  finally  left  after  much  clicking  of  heels,  and 
the  bemonocled  Coimt  Ortenburg  nearly  broke  his 
neck  by  tripping  over  his  sword.  However,  we  got 
them  safely  out  of  the  house,  while  all  the  servants 
leaned  out  of  the  windows  and  took  in  the  show. 

The  new  Governor  -  General  has  addressed  a 
Proclamation  to  the  Belgian  people,  and  has  had  it 
posted  on  the  walls: 


188  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

PROCLAMATION. 

His  Majesty,  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  after  the  occupation 
of  the  greater  part  of  Belgian  territory,  has  been  pleased  to  appoint 
me  Governor-General  in  Belgium.  I  have  established  the  seat 
of  the  General  Government  in  Brussels. 

By  His  Majesty's  orders,  a  civil  administration  has  been  estab- 
lished with  the  General  Government.  His  Excellency  Herr  von 
Sandt  has  been  made  Chief  of  this  Administration. 

The  German  armies  advance  victoriously  in  France.  My  task 
will  be  to  preserve  quiet  and  public  order  in  Belgium. 

Every  act  of  the  population  against  the  German  military  forces, 
every  attempt  to  interfere  with  their  communications  with 
Germany,  to  trouble  or  cut  railway,  telegraph  or  telephone 
communications,  will  be  punished  severely.  Any  resistance  or 
revolt  against  the  German  administration  will  be  suppressed 
without  pity. 

It  is  inevitable  in  war  that  the  punishment  of  hostile  acts  falls 
not  only  upon  the  guilty  but  also  on  the  innocent.  It  is  the  duty 
of  all  reasonable  citizens  to  exercise  their  influence  with  the 
turbulent  elements  of  the  population  to  restrain  them  from  any 
infraction  of  public  order.  Belgian  citizens  desiring  to  return 
peaceably  to  their  occupations  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
German  authorities  or  troops.  So  far  as  is  possible,  commerce 
should  be  resumed,  factories  should  begin  to  work,  and  the  crops 
harvested. 

BELGIAN  CITIZENS 

I  do  not  ask  any  one  to  forego  his  patriotic  sentiments,  but  I 
do  expect  from  all  of  you  a  sensible  submission  and  absolute 
obedience  to  the  orders  of  the  General  Government.  I  call  upon 
you  to  show  confidence  in  that  Government,  and  accord  it  your 
co-operation.  I  address  this  summons  particularly  to  the  func- 
tionaries of  the  State  and  of  the  communes  who  have  remained 
at  their  posts.  The  greater  your  response  to  this  appeal,  the 
greater  the  service  you  will  render  to  your  country. 

The  Governor-General, 
Brussels,  September  2, 191Jf.  Baron  von  der  Goltz, 

Field-Marshal, 


Field-Marshal  Baron  von  der  Goltz  Pacha,  First  Governor-General 

in  Belgium 


^^^^7  /^^-^<'/^^ 


t'^^/^-^^ 


The  signatures  to  the  "scrap  of  i)aper 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  189 

At  about  five  o'clock,  BuUe  came  along,  and  we 
went  for  a  long  walk  together — the  first  time  I  have 
tried  anything  of  the  sort  since  the  war  began.  We 
tramped  out  to  the  Bois  and  made  a  swing  around  the 
circle,  not  getting  back  until  half -past  seven,  w^hen 
we  repaired  to  the  Palace  Hotel  and  had  dinner  with 
several  of  the  colleagues.  When  von  der  Goltz  left 
us,  he  had  started  for  the  Spanish  Legation;  but  we 
learned  from  the  Spanish  Secretary  that  he  had  never 
arrived.  Listead,  at  the  last  minute,  an  aide-de-camp 
had  come  clanking  in  to  express  His  Excellency's 
regrets  that  he  was  unable  to  come,  and  say  that  he 
would  have  to  defer  his  visit  until  a  later  date.  Some- 
thing happened  to  him  after  he  left  our  Legation. 

X had  an  experience  yesterday  which  made  him 

boiling  mad.  He  left  town  in  the  afternoon  with  his 
Consul,  to  go  to  Alost  for  telegrams  and  letters.  He 
was  in  a  car  flying  his  flag,  and  had  his  laisser-passer 
from  the  German  military  authorities.  Near  Assche, 
he  was  stopped  by  an  outpost,  and  told  he  could  not 
go  any  further.  Lie  accepted  this  in  good  part,  and 
said  he  would  go  back.  At  this  point,  an  old  turkey 
gobbler  of  a  General  arrived  and  lit  into  him  for  being 
there.  He  replied  that  he  had  done  nothing  to  which 
exception  could  be  taken ;  that  his  papers  were  in  order, 
and  that  he  was  ready  to  return  at  the  first  indication 
from  the  military  authorities.  This  seemed  to  enrage 
the  old  soldier  who  announced  that  they  would  do 
nothing  of  the  sort;  that  they  were  prisoners  of  war 

and  would  be  sent  back  under  armed  guard.     X 

protested  that  this  was  an  outrage  against  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  friendly  country,  but  in  spite  of  this 


190  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

two  armed  soldiers  were  placed  in  the  car  with  them 
and  another  beside  the  driver,  and  they  were  brought 
back  to  town  as  prisoners.  By  dint  of  arguments  and 
threats  they  were  taken  to  headquarters  instead  of 
jail,  and  succeeded  in  seeing  General  von  Llittwitz  who 
piled  on  the  excuses.  It  does  you  no  good  to  have 
legitimate  business  and  papers  in  order  if  it  suits  some 
apoplectic  officer  to  clap  you  into  jail. 

One  of  the  officers  I  saw  to-day  told  me  that  the 
Germans  were  deliberately  terrorizing  the  country 
through  which  they  passed.  It  is  a  perfectly  convincing 
explanation  of  German  doings  in  this  country,  but 
I  did  not  think  they  were  prepared  to  admit  it  so 
frankly.  This  frank  fellow  made  no  claim  that  civilians 
had  attacked  the  German  troops;  his  only  observation 
w^as  that  they  might  do  so  unless  they  were  so  com- 
pletely cowed  that  they  dared  not  raise  their  hands. 
He  emphasised  the  fact  that  it  was  not  done  as  a  result 
of  bad  temper,  but  as  part  of  the  scheme  of  things  in 
general.  For  my  information,  he  remarked  that  in  the 
long  run  this  was  the  most  humane  manner  of  conduct- 
ing war,  as  it  discouraged  people  from  doing  things 
that  would  bring  terrible  punishment  upon  them. 
And  yet  some  of  these  Belgians  are  ungrateful  enough 
to  complain  at  being  murdered  and  robbed. 

September  Jfih, — ^Autumn  is  coming  with  little  gusts 
of  wind  and  falling  leaves.  Clouds  are  thick,  and  there 
is  a  sort  of  hidden  chill  in  the  air.  It  is  depressing  in 
itself,  and  makes  us  think  with  some  dismay  of  what 
is  ahead  of  the  millions  of  men  who  are  in  the  field,  if  the 
war  is  to  continue  into  the  winter  as  seems  probable. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  191 

I  am  sure  there  is  something  big  in  the  air  to-day. 
For  several  days  there  has  been  a  growing  nervousness 
at  headquarters.  For  four  days  there  has  been  no 
official  proclamation  of  German  victories.  Persistent 
rumours  come  in  of  large  numbers  of  British  troops 
between  here  and  the  coast,  advancing  in  the  general 

direction  of  Brussels.     X 's  arrest,  while  on  a  trip 

to  Alost,  looks  as  though  the  Germans  had  some  reason 
for  keeping  people  from  getting  out  that  way  with 
knowledge  of  military  conditions  here.  Another  thing. 
We  were  to  have  returned  the  call  of  von  der  Goltz 
to-day  at  noon.  Between  here  and  the  Spanish  Lega- 
tion yesterday,  something  happened.  He  never  got 
to  the  Spanish  Legation.  This  morning  we  got  a 
message  from  the  Etat-Major  that  von  der  Goltz  had 
''telegraphed"  to  ask  that  we  should  postpone  our 
call.  Where  he  is,  nobody  would  say.  The  officer 
who  brought  the  message  merely  stated  that  he  had 
been  called  away  in  great  haste,  and  that  it  was  not 
known  when  he  would  return.  Ti*oops  are  marching 
through  the  town  in  every  direction,  and  in  large 
numbers.  Supply  trains  and  artillery  are  creaking 
through  the  place  night  and  day,  and  we  are  awakened 
nearly  every  morning  either  by  the  crunching  of  the 
heavy  siege  pieces  or  the  singing  of  large  bodies  of 
troops  as  they  march  through  the  streets.  Every  day 
we  realise  more  and  more  the  enormous  scale  on  which 
the  operations  are  being  conducted.  It  seems  tre- 
mendous here,  and  we  are  seeing  only  a  small  part 
of  one  section  of  the  field  of  operations. 

Privately,  the  Germans  continue  to  assure  us  that 
they  are  winning  all  along  the  line.     They  say  that 


192  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

they  have  taken  the  whole  of  the  first  line  of  defences 
in  France  with  the  single  exception  of  Maubeuge, 
where  there  has  been  long  and  heavy  fighting  and 
where  the  result  still  trembles  in  the  balance.  Li  addi- 
tion to  this  they  claim  to  have  taken  a  part  of  the 
second  line  of  defences.  They  say  that  the  French 
Government  has  removed  to  Bordeaux,  which  seems 
quite  possible,  and  even  sensible.  They  tell  us  all 
these  things  every  time  that  we  go  over  to  the  General 
Staff,  but  they  do  not  pubhsh  anything  about  it. 

A  British  Red  Cross  doctor  was  in  to-day  and  told 
us  some  items  of  interest.  He  said  that  he  had  been 
assigned  to  care  for  the  wounded  prisoners  who  were 
being  brought  back  from  France  on  their  way  to  Ger- 
many, and  that  he  had  seen  all  the  British  prisoners 
who  had  been  brought  back  by  way  of  Brussels — about 
three  thousand  in  all.  He  said  that  they  w^ere  in  good 
spirits  and  were  sure  that  things  would  come  out  right 
in  the  end.  There  were  the  remnants  of  the  Argyle 
and  Sutherland  Highlanders,  who  went  into  action 
something  over  a  thousand  strong  and  came  out  only 
a  handful. 

I  made  two  attempts  to  see  Herwarth  to-day  but 
was  kept  on  the  sidewalk  and  in  the  courtyard  by  the 
big  green  dragons  who  guard  the  entrance  to  head- 
quarters. After  the  second  attempt  I  returned  to  the 
Legation  and  telephoned  him  that  I  should  like  to  see 
him  when  he  could  get  it  through  the  heads  of  these 
people  that  we  were  not  tramps.  He  was  very  nice 
and  apologetic  and  had  all  the  officers  in  the  German 
army  out  in  the  street  waiting  for  me  when  I  went  back 
for  the  third  time.     All  the  sentries  were  blown  up 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  193 

and  given  the  strictest  sort  of  instructions  that  I  was 
to  be  passed  along  without  question  whenever  I  ap- 
peared. I  was  also  given  another  Passierschein  to  add 
to  my  collection,  directrug  everybody  to  let  me  pass 
wherever  I  wanted  to  go.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  a 
lot  of  our  work  here  is  in  behalf  of  German  subjects, 
this  is  about  the  least  they  could  do. 

Some  news  has  been  brought  down  from  Antwerp 
that  makes  it  seem  necessary  for  me  to  go  there  and  get 
back  again  before  the  siege  begins.  I  had  hoped  to  get 
away  this  morning  but  have  not  yet  been  able  to  get 
a  decision  as  to  exactly  what  is  to  be  done.  I  now  hope 
to  get  away  after  lunch. 

I  spent  all  yesterday  afternoon  enciphering  a  tele- 
gram which  I  must  get  off  either  through  Holland  or 
Antwerp.  We  are  able  to  send  nothing  but  open  mes- 
sages over  the  military  wire  through  Berlin  and  I  have 
a  strong  suspicion  that  these  are  being  censored. 

Brussels,  September  7,  19H. — ^Did  not  get  off  to  Ant- 
werp to-day  but  hope  to  make  it  by  to-morrow  noon. 
There  was  too  much  going  on,  but  arrangements  are 
being  made  for  a  laisser-passer,  etc.,  and  I  anticipate 
no  trouble  beyond  being  shot  or  made  prisoner. 

Gherardi*  came  in  this  morning  for  a  call  and  then 
left  for  Maubeuge,  which  the  Germans  had  arranged 
to  capture  during  the  day.  They  seemed  very  sure  of 
it,  but  I  would  not  be  surprised  to  see  him  come  sailing 
back  without  having  seen  the  surrender. 

Baron  von  der  Lancken,  of  the  Foreign  Office  in 
Berlin,    called    this  morning.      He  is  here  to  handle 

*  American  Naval  Attach^  at  Berlin. 


194  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

relations  with  the  Foreign  Ministers  remaining  in 
Brussels.  As  we  have  had  the  care  of  German  inter- 
ests they  all  come  here  first  and  our  position  is  better 
than  that  of  any  other  Legation  in  the  country.  We 
have  things  on  a  working  basis. 

September  8th. — ^Last  night,  after  dinner,  I  trotted 
around  and  called  on  the  wives  of  some  of  the  Bel- 
gian oflficials  to  see  whether  there  was  any  news  of 
them  that  I  could  give  to  their  husbands  in  Antwerp. 
I  found  Madame  Davignon,  the  wife  of  the  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  in  her  son's  home,  peacefully  work- 
ing away  on  clothes  for  the  wounded.  She  told  me  all  the 
news  of  the  house  so  that  I  could  repeat  it  to  her  husband. 
She  is  as  calm  as  you  please  and  far  from  despairing. 

Madame  de  Broqueville,  the  wife  of  the  Prime  Min- 
ister, turned  her  house  into  a  Red  Cross  hospital  at 
the  outbreak  of  hostilities;  it  is  a  beautiful  big  place. 
Of  course  there  are  practically  nothing  but  German 
wounded  in  the  house  now,  but  the  good  lady  conquers 
her  natural  feelings  and  has  them  as  well  looked  after 
as  though  they  were  of  her  own  race.  I  went  in  in  an 
apologetic  mood  for  intruding  on  her  at  so  late  an  hour, 
but  she  had  lots  to  say  and  I  stayed  on  for  a  long  time. 
It  did  her  good  to  talk,  and  I  was  so  overawed  by  her 
courage  and  poise  that  I  sat  and  listened  in  silent 
admiration.  The  wives  of  the  Cabinet  Ministers  and 
other  ofiicials  have  shown  wonderful  nerve  and  are 
standing  right  up  to  their  duty. 

Count  and  Countess  de  X  had  an  interesting  story 
to  tell  of  their  experiences  when  the  first  armies  went 
through.     When  the  war  broke  out  they  were  at  their 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  195 

chateau  and  were  caught  by  the  first  onrush  of 
troops.  Their  fine  cellars  were  emptied  for  the  benefit  of 
the  invader,  but  nothing  more  serious  happened  to  them 
until  the  second  wave  came  along.  Then  there  was  a 
demand  for  more  wine.  As  all  the  wine  had  been  car- 
ried away  they  could  not  comply.  The  Germans  were 
convinced  that  they  were  being  fooled,  and  searched 
the  place  very  carefully.  Finally  they  imprisoned  the 
X's  for  three  days  in  the  cellar  and  then  brought  them 
forth  and  stood  them  up  before  a  firing  squad  and 
threatened  to  shoot  them  unless  they  told  where  the 
wine  was  hidden.  At  the  critical  moment  a  big  gray 
military  car  rolled  up,  and  to  their  considerable  relief 
they  saw  that  one  of  the  occupants  was  a  German 
princeling,  who  had  formerly  been  their  guest  on  sev- 
eral occasions.  They  called  out  to  him,  and  by  his 
orders  were  immediately  released.  After  expressing  their 
thanks  to  him  they  went  into  the  chateau  to  find  that 
soldiers  were  engaged  in  packing  up  their  fine  collections 
of  enamels  and  porcelains  to  ship  them  to  Germany. 
Another  appeal  to  the  Prince,  who  was  most  sympathe- 
tic.    He  was  a  practical  and  resourceful  man,  and  said : 

''Of  course  I'll  stop  this,  but  you  will  understand 
that  our  men  would  like  to  keep  some  little  souvenir 
of  the  war  in  Belgium.  That  would  be  hard  to  pre- 
vent. But  I  would  suggest  that  you  pick  out  all  the 
pieces  that  you  value  most  and  pack  them  away  in 
that  large  wardrobe.     Then  I'll  do  the  rest." 

Madame  de  X  was,  of  course,  delighted  with  this, 
and  scurried  about  gathering  together  the  finest  pieces 
and  packing  them  carefully  into  the  big  wardrobe. 
She  kept  it  up  as  long  as  there  was  a  nook  or  cranny 


196  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

where  odd  pieces  could  be  put,  and  then  reported 
progress  to  the  Prince. 

"Are  you  sure  that  all  the  best  pieces  are  there?" 
says  he. 

"All  that  could  be  packed  there,"  answers  Madame 
de  X. 

"Good,"  says  the  Prince,  and  then  turning  to  his 
orderly:  "Have  that  wardrobe  sent  to  Berlin  for  me." 

The  way  the  German  army  cleaned  out  the  wine  of 
the  country  was  a  revelation  to  everybody.  They 
would  not  take  what  they  needed  for  the  day's  drink- 
ing but  would  clear  out  whole  cellars  at  a  time  and 
load  what  was  not  drunk  onto  carts  to  be  carried  away. 
The  result  was  that  people  who  had  a  little  warning 
had  recourse  to  all  sorts  of  ingenious  tricks  to  save 
some  of  their  store.  There  was  one  bright  man  in  the 
province  of  Namur  who  removed  his  stock  of  wine — 
all  except  a  few  thousand  bottles  of  new  wine — and 
deposited  them  in  the  ornamental  pond  near  his  cha- 
teau. The  Germans  arrived  a  few  hours  afterward  and 
raised  a  great  fog  because  they  were  not  satisfied  with 
the  amount  of  wine  they  foimd.  The  owner  of  the 
chateau  had  discreetly  slipped  away  to  Brussels  and 
they  could  not  do  anything  to  him.  However,  they 
tapped  all  the  walls  for  secret  hiding  places  and  went 
over  the  park  to  see  if  anything  had  been  buried — all 
in  vain.  The  next  morning,  however,  the  pond  was 
covered  with  labels  which  had  soaked  off  and  floated 
to  the  surface,  and  after  draining  the  pond  the  whole 
stock  was  carted  away. 

Madame  B ,  who  was  there,  has  an  interesting 

souvenir  which  she  proposes  to  keep  if  possible.     Dur- 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  E^  BELGIUM  197 

ing  the  first  days  of  the  war  her  chateau  was  occupied 
by  a  lot  of  officers,  who  got  gloriously  drunk  and 
smashed  up  pretty  well  everything  in  the  drawing- 
room  and  dining-room.  One  of  them,  with  a  fine  sense 
of  humour,  took  a  piece  of  hard  chalk  and  wrote  on 
the  top  of  her  piano  in  large  letters:  DeutscJiland  Uber 
allesl  The  crowd  left  the  place  in  the  morning  with- 
out trying  to  cover  their  traces,  and  Madame  B 

came  in  to  put  things  to  rights.  The  first  thing  she 
did  was  to  get  a  large  piece  of  plate  glass  to  cover  the 
top  of  the  piano  so  that  the  legend  would  not  be  effaced, 
and  over  that  she  placed  an  ordinary  piano  cover  so 
that  no  future  visitor  would  be  inclined  to  erase  the 
inscription.  When  the  war  is  over  this  will  be  an 
interesting  reminder  of  her  visitors. 

This  morning  I  was  ready  to  start  for  Antwerp. 
My  laisser-passer  had  been  promised  for  ten  o'clock. 
When  it  did  not  come  by  that  hour,  I  went  up  to  see 
Baron  von  der  Lancken  who  had  agreed  to  attend  to 
the  matter.  He  received  me  most  graciously,  told  me 
how  dehghted  he  was  to  see  me,  how  it  pleased  him 
to  see  that  we  came  to  him  with  our  little  troubles,  etc. 
He  kept  off  the  subject  of  the  laisser-passer  as  long  as 
he  could,  but  when  he  could  stave  it  off  no  longer  he 
said  that  he  must  ask  me  to  see  von  Herwarth,  who  had 
been  placed  in  charge  of  all  matters  regarding  pass- 
ports, etc.  I  made  a  blue  streak  over  to  Herwarth's 
office,  and  saw  him  after  a  httle  delay.  He  kept  me 
as  long  as  he  could,  and  told  me  all  that  he  knew  about 
the  war  and  perhaps  a  great  deal  more.  TOien  we  got 
down  to  the  subject  of  my  visit  he  said  that  von  der 
Lancken  was  mistaken,  that  passports  could  be  granted 


198  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

only  by  Colonel  von  Claer  who  had  his  office  about 
a  block  away.  I  began  to  smell  a  rat  about  this  time, 
but  kept  plugging  away.  I  spent  an  hour  and  a  quarter 
in  the  antechamber  of  the  Colonel,  being  unable  to 
get  to  him  or  to  any  of  his  officers.  It  was  all  part 
of  a  game.  Both  von  der  Lancken  and  Herwarth 
harped  upon  the  danger  of  the  trip  to  Antwerp,  advised 
against  it  and  told  how  terribly  they  would  feel  if 
anything  were  to  happen  to  me.  I  asked  each  of  them 
point  blank  if  they  contemplated  an  attack  while  I  was 
there.  They  both  avoided  the  subject,  but  said  that 
with  the  situation  as  it  was  now  it  was  impossible  to 
tell  from  one  moment  to  another  what  might  happen. 
I  saw  that  they  were  undecided  about  what  was  going 
to  happen  next,  and  that  until  they  did  know  they 
did  not  intend  to  let  me  go.  They  naturally  do^not 
wish  to  have  anything  happen  to  me  or  anyone  else 
connected  with  the  Legation,  so  I  feel  entirely  safe 
about  going. 

After  lunch  I  went  back  to  the  siege  and  stayed 
imtil  my  friend,  the  Colonel,  left  by  the  fire-escape 
or  some  equally  desperate  way  so  as  to  avoid  seeing  me. 

Von  der  Goltz  had  sent  w-ord  to  the  Minister  that 
he  was  coming  here  for  tea  this  afternoon,  and  wanted 
to  meet  the  Spanish  Minister.  That  was  our  oppor- 
tunity, and  the  Minister  was  all  primed  wdth  what  he 
was  to  say  to  the  old  chap.  They  beat  us  to  it,  how- 
ever. The  problem  had  evidently  been  decided  since 
I  saw  von  der  Lancken  in  the  morning,  for  he  greeted 
me  with  the  news  that  the  laisser-passer  would  be 
around  in  the  course  of  the  evening.  He  added  that 
the  General  was  anxious  to  send  one  of  the  Belgian 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  LST  BELGIUM  199 

Ministers  of  State  to  Antwerp,  and  would  appreciate 
it  if  I  would  take  him  with  me.  He  is  Count  de  Woeste, 
the  man  who  has  always  fought  against  having  an 
army,  on  the  ground  that  Belgium  was  so  fully 
guaranteed  by  her  treaties  that  it  was  unnecessary. 
Baron  von  der  Lancken  says  that  they  will  make 
out  a  laisser-passer  on  which  he  will  be  included, 
and  that  the  military  authorities  will  mark  out  the 
route  by  which  we  had  best  go,  so  as  to  avoid  running 
into  trouble.  I  imagine  it  will  take  us  by  way  of 
Termonde  and  St.  Nicolas. 

The  crowd  that  came  to  tea  included  von  der  Goltz, 
Pacha,  Baron  von  der  Lancken,  Herr  von  Sandt,  and 
Count  Ortenburg — a  scion  of  a  mediatised  Bavarian 
family.  They  told  us  of  all  the  glorious  triumphs  of 
the  German  army,-  and  of  the  terrible  drubbing  that 
was  in  store  for  their  enemies.  They  stayed  on  for 
about  an  hour. 

When  they  left,  I  escorted  the  old  man  to  his  car. 
Before  he  climbed  in,  he  looked  me  over  curiously  and 
remarked:  '' Tiens,  c'est  fous  qui  faites  ce  foyage  a 
Anfers!  Four  afez  peaucoup  de  gourage.  Che  tacherai 
d'arranger  uu  petit  entr^acte  pour  fous  etre  agreaple. 
Mais  il  vaut  refenir  aussitot  gue  bossible!'^  They 
evidently  intend  to  hold  off  for  a  day  to  await 
certain  developments,  and  I  am  to  get  the  benefit  of 
the  delay. 

The  Marshal  also  told  us  that  Maubeuge  had 
fallen,  and  that  they  had  made  forty-five  thousand 
prisoners.  It  seems  almost  incredible  that  the  French 
and  English  would  have  left  that  many  men  at  Mau- 
beuge  when   they   knew   that   it   was   bound   to  fall. 


200  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Perhaps  we  shall  find  that  this  is  not  altogether 
accurate.  They  say  nothing  about  what  is  happening 
in  Austria.  The  news  from  England  and  Antwerp  is 
to  the  effect  that  the  Russians  are  giving  the  Austrians 
a  hard  time  of  it. 

This  afternoon  the  German  headquarters  issued  an 
order  prohibiting  the  bringing  of  newspapers  to  Brussels 
from  the  outside  world,  and  announcing  that  any  one 
who  brings  newspapers  here  or  is  found  with  papers 
in  his  possession  will  be  severely  punished.  Two  Ger- 
man papers  will  be  distributed  by  the  authorities, 
and  everything  else  is  taboo.  They  evidently  intend 
that  their  ow^n  version  of  passing  events  shall  be  the 
only  one  to  get  out  here. 

Brussels,  September  13,  191^. — ^Ever  since  the  9th 
I  have  been  off  on  my  little  jaunt  to  Antwerp,  and 
have  not  been  able  to  get  a  line  on  paper. 

I  was  not  at  all  sure  that  I  was  going  to  get  away 
at  all,  until  I  got  down  to  the  Legation  on  Wednesday 
morning  and  found  my  laisser-passer,  signed  by  von 
der  Goltz,  waiting  for  me — another  to  add  to  my 
already  large  and  interesting  collection.  With  it  was 
a  letter  from  my  friend  and  well-wisher,  Baron~von 
der  Lancken,  who  said  that  an  officer  would  be  assigned 
to  accompany  us  as  far  as  the  German  outposts.  He 
suggested  that  I  take  along  a  large  white  flag  to  be 
hoisted  over  the  motor  for  the  run  between  the  lines. 
The  note  and  laisser-passer  had  arrived  at  the  Lega- 
tion about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  had  looked 
so  important  that  the  slaves  waked  the  Minister  from 
a  deep  sleep  to  receive  them. 


Paeeleree  h^e  In 


fir  den  ersten  Sekretar  der  Geeandtechaft  der  Verclnlgten  Staaten 

von  Arcerlka  zu  jSr.useel, 

herrn    liug^     Gibson 
und   den  Konigllch  Belgischen  Staatemlniater 

herrn    W  o  e  s  t  e  , 
die   aich  nach  Antwerpen  begeben,    von  wo   ele  am  10. September  d«  !• 
nach-j3ru86el  2  uruckz  ukehren   oeabsichtigen. 

£ei   der  Ruckrelee   von  Antwerpen  nach  Br'Jesel  werden 
die  vorbez  eichneten  Iierren  begleltet   sein  von  dem  ereten  SekretAr 
der  hieeigen  Spanlschen  C-esandtschaf  t , 

I,iarquls     de     P  a  u  r  a 
und   einem  oderzwei  weiteren  belglechen  Herren,    deren  remen  noch 
'nicnt   angegeben  werden  konnen. 

Die  herren   slnd   frei   -md  'jngehlndert   paesleren  und 
repassleren  z-j   laspen*  Jeder  Beiatand   let   ihnen  zu  gewahren. 


Bruseel,   den  9. September  lol* ' 


Der  Generalgouverneur  in  Belglcn- 


/^ 


Generalfeldmarsdiall. 


Pass  issued  by  Field-Marshal  von  der  Goltz  to  enable 
Mr.  Gibson  to  pass  through  the  German  lines  to 
Antwerp. 


202  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

ments  of  sailors  in  blue  blouses  and  caps.  All  the 
men,  except  the  sailors  and  a  few  of  the  Landsturm 
who  wear  conspicuous  blue  uniforms,  were  in  the  new 
greenish  grey,  which  is  about  the  finest  color  that 
has  yet  seen  active  service.  Frequently  we  drove 
several  hundred  yards  beside  a  field  before  noticing 
that  it  was  filled  w4th  soldiers.  Several  of  the  villages 
between  Dieghem  and  Hofstade  were  partially  burned, 
and  there  were  evidences  of  shell  fire — which  to  these 
peasants  must  be  a  perfectly  convincing  substitute  for 
hell-fire — and  of  fighting  at  really  close  quarters. 
Between  Perck  and  Hofstade,  the  fields  were  covered 
with  deep  entrenchments,  and  over  some  of  these  were 
stuck  dummy  heads  to  draw  hostile  fire.  Some,  on 
the  other  hand,  were  fitted  with  Belgian  caps  picked 
up  on  the  battle-field,  evidently  for  the  purpose  of 
inducing  Belgian  troops  to  approach  for  a  closer  look 
before  firing.  Most  of  the  big  trees  along  the  road 
had  been  cut  down,  and  many  houses  razed  to  the 
ground  so  as  to  have  a  cleaner  sweep  for  the  artillery. 
At  Dieghem,  the  German  pilot-car  picked  up  a  naval 
oflBcer  who  was  to  accompany  us  as  far  as  the  outposts 
and  to  inspect  his  men  on  the  way  back. 

On  the  outskirts  of  Hofstade,  under  a  brick  railway 
bridge,  we  found  the  last  German  troops.  They  had 
some  hard  fighting  here  at  the  time  of  the  last  Belgian 
sortie,  and  the  bridge  and  the  surrounding  houses 
showed  evidences  of  shell  fire. 

I  was  rather  against  putting  up  the  white  flag,  but 
both  Herwarth  and  the  naval  officer  were  most  insistent 
that  I  should  do  so,  saying  that  the  country  between 
the  lines  was  filled  with  patrols,   both  Belgian   and 


A  street  in  Luuvaiii 


Fixing  on  the  white  flag  for  the  dash  between  the  hnes 


Kefugee-  from  the  villages  near  the  Ant\ver]>  foil 


Arrival  in  Antwerp  of  refugees  from  Malines 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  203 

German;  that  they  felt  that  hostihties  were  to  be 
commenced  at  any  moment,  and  that  any  one  who 
ventured  into  the  district  between  the  lines  would 
stand  a  fine  chance  of  being  shot  unless  he  carried  a 
conciliatory  emblem.  They  rigged  up  a  long  pole 
on  the  side  of  the  car  with  a  white  flag  about  six  feet 
square,  and  bidding  a  glad  farewell  to  the  representa- 
tives of  HohenzoUern  and  Company,  we  started  out 
to  feel  our  way  into  Malines.  About  500  yards  beyond 
the  bridge  we  sighted  two  Belgian  bicycle  patrols 
who,  on  seeing  us,  jumped  off  their  machines  and  ran 
into  an  abandoned  farmhouse.  Knowing  that  they 
were  at  high  tension,  we  crept  up  very  slowly  so  that 
they  might  have  a  good  look  at  us  before  trying  their 
marksmanship.  They  were  peeking  over  the  window- 
ledge,  with  their  rifles  trained  at  us;  but  after  a  good 
look  at  the  black  clothes  and  white  whiskers  of 
M.  de  Woeste  they  pulled  in  their  weapons  and  waved 
us  to  go  ahead.  About  a  kilometer  farther  on,  we 
came  around  a  turn  in  the  road  and  nearly  ran  into 
the  first  Belgian  outpost — six  men  and  an  officer. 
As  we  came  around  upon  them  they  scurried  behind 
stone  walls  and  trees,  and  gave  us  the  usual  pleasant 
greeting  of  levelled  rifles.  As  the  most  prudent  things 
to  do  under  such  circumstances,  the  car  was  stopped, 
and  I  went  ahead  to  parley.    The  officer  proved  to  be 

young  Z .     He  turned  quite  white  when  he  got  a 

good  look  at  me,  and  remarked  that  it  was  fortunate 
they  had  not  had  a  sight  of  us  farther  down  the  road, 
as  we  would  certainly  have  been  filled  with  lead. 

He  said  that  the  Germans  had  tried  three  times  that 
morning  to  get  through  the  lines  in  cars  flying  the 


204  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

white  flag,  in  one  instance  at  least,  with  a  machine- 
gun  in  the  car.  As  a  result  of  this,  the  outposts  had 
orders  not  to  take  any  chance  for  the  rest  of  the  time 
intervening  before  the  attack  which  was  expected  to 
begin  at  any  minute. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  suggest  that  our  friends  had 
me  put  up  the  white  flag,  so  as  to  offer  proof  of  the 
Belgian  savagery  in  firing  on  the  white  flag. 

After  this  little  experience,  we  took  in  our  white 
flag  and  made  the  rest  of  our  trip  without  trouble. 
We  found  outposts  about  every  hundred  yards,  and 
were  stopped  at  the  point  of  the  rifle  each  time;  but 
as  we  got  farther  away  from  the  outer  lines  the  be- 
haviour of  the  posts  was  noticeably  less  nervous,  and 
when  we  got  into  Malines  the  mere  sight  of  our  papers 
was  sufficient  to  let  us  freely  through. 

Since  my  last  trip,  the  Belgians  have  been  working 
steadily  at  their  preparations  for  defence,  and  have 
accomplished  wonders.  Their  large  tracts  of  land, 
some  of  them  forming  natural  routes,  for  entry  between 
the  forts,  have  been  inundated  with  water  from  the 
canals  so  as  to  be  quite  impassable.  Tremendous 
barbed  wire  entanglements  form  a  broad  barrier  all 
around  the  outer  and  inner  fortifications;  they  are  so 
thick  and  so  strongly  braced  that  artillery  fire  would 
be  practically  useless  against  them,  and  cutting  with 
wire  nippers  would  be  so  slow  that  it  could  not  be 
accomplished  without  a  horrible  loss  of  men. 

There  are  any  number  of  huge  searchlights  placed 
on  the  fortifications  to  sweep  the  skies  for  Zeppelins. 
Since  my  last  visit,  one  Zeppelin  had  succeeded  in 
getting  over  the  town,  but  was  surprised  and  dropped 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  205 

its  whole  cargo  of  15  bombs  in  a  distance  of  a  few 
hundred  yards,  taking  no  hves  and  doing  little  material 
damage.  Since  then,  several  big  craft  have  appeared 
at  night,  but  have  always  been  frightened  away  by 
the  searchlights  and  the  fire  of  the  small  vertical  guns 
which  have  been  ready  for  them. 

All  the  villages  which  cluster  around  the  fortifica- 
tions have  been  razed  to  the  ground,  and  the  avenues  of 
big  trees  have  been  cut  down ;  it  is  a  pretty  dreadful  sight. 

I  left  M.  de  Woeste  at  the  Grand  Hotel,  where  the 
Cabinet  is  staying,  and  then  made  for  the  Saint  Antoine. 
Had  lunch  with  Sir  Francis  Villiers  and  Colonel  Fair- 
holme,  and  got  my  first  real  news  since  the  Prussian 
headquarters  stopped  issuing  bulletins  of  German 
victories.  Sir  Francis  showed  me  the  telegrams  he 
had  received  about  the  German  check  and  retreat  in 
France;  and  Prince  Koudacheff,  the  Russian  Minister, 
who  joined  us  for  coffee,  vied  with  him  by  showing 
me  his  telegrams  about  the  Russian  advance  in  Eastern 
Prussia  and  in  Austria. 

After  luncheon,  I  had  some  pow-wows  on  the  subject 
that  had  brought  me,  and  went  to  see  various  people 
for  whom  I  had  messages.  They  are  a  lot  more  cheerful 
than  the  last  time  I  was  in  Antwerp,  and  are  ready 
for  anything. 

From  the  Foreign  Office,  I  went  to  the  Consulate 
General,whereIfound  a  mountain  of  letters  and  telegrams. 
Got  off  my  cables,  and  answered  as  much  of  the  other 
correspondence  as  was  absolutely  necessary — ^no  more. 

On  my  way  back  to  the  hotel,  I  ran  into  General 
Jungbluth  coming  out  of  the  Palace,  and  was  promptly 
hauled  inside  for  gossip. 


206  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

The  Queen,  who  has  very  properly  come  back  from 
England,  walked  in  on  us  and  stopped  to  hear  the  news 
from  Brussels. 

I  got  back  to  the  hotel,  and  found  all  the  colleagues 
waiting  for  me  to  hear  the  latest  news  from  Brussels. 
I  played  my  part,  and  was  nearly  torn  to  pieces  in 
their  eagerness  for  news  from  the  town  where  there  is 
none.  They  were  all  there  except  the  Papal  Nuncio, 
who  is  most  unhappy  in  the  midst  of  war's  alarms  and 
hardly  budges  from  the  episcopal  palace. 

After  dinner  I  was  again  asked  to  go  to  the  Grand 
Hotel  to  see  the  Prime  Minister.  He  had  nothing 
startling  to  say,  but  was  anxious  to  know  what  was 
going  on  in  Brussels.  He  showed  me  his  telegrams 
from  France,  England  and  Russia,  and  his  maps  with 
the  recent  movements  worked  out  with  little  flags. 

Monsieur  de  Brocqueville  told  me  an  interesting 
incident  that  had  taken  place  at  Ghent.  It  seems 
that  when  the  Germans  arrived  there,  they  sent  in 
an  officer  and  several  soldiers  to  arrange  for  requisi- 
tions, etc.,  a  promise  having  been  given  that  they 
would  not  be  molested.  Of  course,  the  whole  town 
was  on  the  qui  vive,  and  everybody  had  been  warned 
to  refrain  from  incurring  their  displeasure.  Just  as 
the  German  motor  passed  in  front  of  our  Consulate, 
a  Belgian  armoured  car  came  charging  in  from  Ant- 
werp, knowing  nothing  of  the  presence  of  the  Germans, 
and  upon  seeing  the  enemy  imiform,  opened  fire, 
wounding  the  officer  and  one  of  the  men. 

That  was  enough  to  start  things,  and  the  town 
would  probably  be  in  ruins  to-day  but  for  the  quick 
thinking  and  action  of  Van  Hee,  the  American  Vice- 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  D^  BELGIUM  207 

Consul.  He  plunged  down  the  staircase,  seized  the 
Burgomaster,  who  happened  to  be  present,  pushed 
him  into  a  motor  with  the  wounded  men  and  went 
straight  to  the  German  headquarters  to  explain 
that  the  attack  had  been  made  by  two  men  from 
Antwerp  who  knew  nothing  of  the  agreement  reached 
between  the  city  and  the  German  forces,  and  to 
plead  that  no  reprisals  should  be  made  upon  the 
city.  The  general  said  that  he  was  prepared  to  ac- 
cept the  statement  of  the  Vice-Consul  on  this  matter, 
and  that  he  would  not  therefore  visit  retribution 
on  the  town  if  the  requisitions  which  he  had  demanded 
.were  promptly  furnished.  The  requisitions  were 
heavy,  and  he  was  apparently  afraid  that  they 
might  not  be  sent.  He  said  that  he  would  send  in 
troops  to  occupy  the  town  imtil  the  supplies  requisi- 
tioned were  actually  in  his  possession,  but  finally 
agreed  to  refrain  from  doing  so  on  condition  that  the 
Vice-Consul  should  give  his  word  of  honour  that  the 
supplies  should  be  forthcoming. 

Van  Hee  took  this  responsibility,  and  the  General 
agreed  to  keep  his  troops  outside  the  town.  When 
they  got  back  to  Ghent,  the  Mihtary  Governor  dis- 
avowed the  arrangement  on  the  ground  that  the 
Burgomaster  had  no  right  to  enter  into  an  agreement 
with  the  Germans  and  that  he,  as  Military  Governor, 
was  the  only  one  with  any  authority  to  deal  with  them. 
He  therefore  declared  that  no  supplies  should  be  sent. 
The  Burgomaster  telegraphed  the  Prime  Minister  in 
Antwerp,  and  placed  the  entire  situation  before  him,  and 
Monsieur  de  Brocqueville  promptly  telegraphed  back 
that  since  the  American  Vice-Consul  had  given  his  word 


208  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM        , 

of  honour  to  the  German  General  it  was  impossible  to 
disavow  the  agreement,  and  that  the  supplies  should 
be  sent  out  immediately.  This  was  a  pretty  high  stand 
for  the  Belgians  to  take,  but  they  feel  that  Van  Hee 
saved  Ghent  from  destruction,  and  are  correspondingly 
grateful  to  him. 

Getting  around  Antwerp  in  the  evening  is  quite  an 
undertaking  at  this  time;  no  street  lamps  are  lighted, 
all  the  window  shades  lined  with  black,  and  heavy 
black  shades  are  placed  over  the  small  electric  lights 
in  the  courtyards  of  hotels,  etc. — all  of  this  to  keep 
from  giving  any  indication  to  the  Zeppelins  as  to  where 
to  drop  their  visiting  cards.  A  heavy  detachment  of 
soldiers  guards  the  approach  to  the  Saint  Antoine, 
and  there  are  patrols  in  all  the  streets.  The  few  motors 
allowed  on  the  street  have  no  lights,  and  are  stopped 
by  all  the  patrols,  who  do  not  call  out  but  rise  up 
silently  in  front  of  you  and  demand  the  password. 
It  is  a  ticklish  business  finding  one's  way.  The  big 
searchlights  on  the  forts  sweep  the  skies  from  nightfall 
until  dawn,  making  a  wonderful  sort  of  fireworks. 

When  I  got  back  to  the  hotel  I  found  Prince  Cara- 
man  Chimay  waiting  for  me  with  a  message  from  the 
Queen.  Also  poor  Prince  Ernest  de  Ligne,  whose  son, 
Badouin,  was  killed  in  one  of  the  armoured  motors 
several  days  ago. 

Young  de  Ligne,  who  was  a  volunteer,  was  in  one  of 
three  armoured  cars  that  went  out  on  a  reconnaissance 
toward  the  German  lines.  Just  before  entering  a 
simken  road  between  two  fields  they  stopped  a  Flemish 
peasant  and  asked  him  whether  there  were  any  Ger- 
mans anywhere  about.     The  peasant  told  them  that 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  209 

three  Uhlans  had  been  seen  a  short  time  before  but 
they  had  gone  away.  The  three  motors,  de  Ligne  in 
the  first,  started  down  and  were  attacked  by  about 
forty  Germans  under  command  of  a  major.  De  Ligne 
was  shot  in  the  head  and  died  shortly  afterwards. 
The  man  who  took  his  place  at  the  wheel  was  killed, 
and  several  others  of  the  party  were  also  badly  wounded 
and  have  since  died.  The  third  motor  came  up  from 
some  little  distance  behind  and  opened  on  the  Ger- 
mans, killing  or  wounding  nearly  all  of  them,  including 
the  officer,  who  was  killed. 

A  young  chap  named  Strauss,  whose  mother  was  an 
American,  had  the  mitrailleuse  in  his  car,  and  stood 
upright,  firing  upon  the  Germans  without  being  touched 
by  the  heavy  rifle  fire  that  they  directed  against  him. 
When  the  Germans  had  been  put  to  flight  he  and  the 
other  survivors  got  the  three  cars  into  running  order, 
and  brought  them  all  back  to  Antwerp,  where  de  Ligne 
and  two  of  the  others  died. 

Prince  Ernest  had  a  hard  time  getting  through  from 
Brussels,  and  was  fired  on  several  times  by  the  German 
troops,  who  were  even  more  nervous  than  in  the  morn- 
ing, when  I  came  through.  One  of  his  nephews  has 
also  been  killed,  and  another  nephew.  Prince  Henri  de 
Ligne,  is  in  the  aviation  corps,  and  has  been  in  the 
thick  of  it  ever  since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  He 
and  his  wife  are  also  staying  at  the  Saint  Antoine. 

On  Thursday  morning  I  got  caught  in  another  ava- 
lanche of  telegrams  and  had  to  spend  a  couple  of  hours 
at  the  Consulate-General  polishing  off  and  finishing 
business.  Stopped  in  at  the  palace  on  the  way  back 
and  saw  General  Jungbluth,  who  showed  me  the  latest 


210  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

telegrams.  I  gathered  up  what  newspapers  I  could 
beg  or  buy  and  stuffed  them  into  a  mihtary  pouch 
to  take  back.  Had  an  early  lunch,  gathered  up  M.  de 
Woeste  and  Faura,  whom  I  was  to  bring  back,  and 
started  about  one.  We  got  through  Mahnes,  across 
the  only  one  of  the  three  bridges  which  is  left,  and 
started  down  the  bank  of  the  canal  toward  Hofstade, 
where  Herwarth  was  to  meet  us  at  two  o'clock.  There 
was  heavy  firing  by  small  guns  ahead  and  a  certain 
amount  of  protective  firing  from  the  forts  behind 
us,  with  the  shells  singing  high  above  our  heads, 
but  we  thought  that  it  was  probably  aimed  further  to 
the  south  and  that  we  could  get  through. 

Just  at  the  edge  of  Malines  we  were  startled  by  a 
tremendous  report  near-by,  and  on  getting  out  to 
reconnoitre  I  discovered  a  Belgian  battery,  which  had 
been  established  near  the  Convent  of  the  Dames  de 
Coloma.  The  commanding  officer  of  the  battery, 
Major  Nyssens,  whom  I  had  kno^Ti  in  Brussels,  ad- 
vised us  to  wait  a  little  to  see  if  there  was  a  lull  in  the 
fighting,  so  that  we  would  get  through.  We  went  into 
the  convent  to  wait  and  were  warmly  received  by  a  little 
Irish  nun,  who  showed  us  the  park  and  pictures  by 
way  of  entertainment,  although  we  felt  a  much  greater 
interest  in  the  banging  of  the  battery.  After  a  bit 
Major  Nyssens  sent  out  a  messenger  to  the  farthest 
battery  to  see  whether  they  were  prepared  to  stop 
firing  for  a  little  while  to  let  us  scuttle  through  to 
Hofstade.  Presently  an  answer  came  back  that  at  2 :10 
the  firing  would  be  stopped  for  twelve  minutes  to  let 
us  through.  We  were  in  the  motor  ready  to  start 
when  another  messenger  came  from  the  outer  battery 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  211 

saying  that  the  Germans  were  prepared  to  move  up 
their  battery  from  the  bridge  at  Hofstade — the  very 
spot  we  were  making  for,  if  there  were  any  lull  in  the 
firing  and  that  the  Belgian  battery  could  not  stop 
without  endangering  its  position. 

We  then  decided  to  go  back  to  Malines  and  to  try  a 
direct  road  by  way  of  Sempst  and  Villevorde.  On  part- 
ing I  gave  Nyssens  all  my  cigars,  knowing  I  should  find 
plenty  when  I  got  back  to  Brussels,  and  he,  in  a  burst 
of  gratitude,  gave  me  a  tiny  revolver  taken  off  a  dead 
German  officer  a  few  hours  before.  Immediately  after 
getting  the  revolver  Nyssens'  orderly  had  handled  it 
rather  carelessly,  and  shot  himself  in  the  stomach.  To 
make  sure  of  doing  nothing  equally  foolish,  I  took  out 
the  remaining  cartridges  and  chucked  them  in  the  canal 
as  we  rode  back  to  Malines. 

About  a  kilometer  out  of  Malines  we  ran  into  a  con- 
siderable detachment  of  Belgian  infantry  and  lancers 
and  a  large  armoured  motor  with  two  mitrailleuses. 
We  were  told  that  the  Belgians  had  taken  and  retaken 
Sempst  three  times  during  the  day,  and  while  neither 
side  occupied  the  town  at  that  precise  moment  they 
were  both  advancing  on  it,  and  that  it  might  be  rather 
warm  for  ordinary  motors.  They  finally  agreed  to  let 
us  talk  to  the  commanding  officer,  who  turned  out  to 
be  none  other  than  Colonel  Cumont,  the  owner  of  the 
building  occupied  by  the  Legation. 

He  was  up  on  a  railway  embankment,  lying  on  his 
stomach  between  the  rails,  watching  some  German 
patrols  through  a  pair  of  big  field  glasses,  and  when  we 
hailed  him,  rolled  gracefully  over  the  side,  and  came 
down  to  talk  to  us.     He  had  been  out  on  the  track 


212  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

most  of  the  time  for  three  days  and  was  a  rather  dis- 
reputable-looking person,  but  apparently  glad  of  a 
chance  to  talk  with  someone  from  the  outside  world. 

He  said  he  thought  we  would  have  time  to  get  through 
before  the  row  began,  and  in  any  event  he  would  warn 
his  men  so  that  if  we  came  scuttling  back  we  would  be 
given  the  right  of  way  to  safety. 

We  passed  several  Belgian  patrols  along  the  way  and 
finally  got  into  the  town,  which  showed  clear  evidences 
of  fighting;  some  of  the  houses  were  burned  to  the 
ground,  and  all  that  were  standing  had  their  doors 
and  windows  smashed,  furniture  broken,  and  strewn 
about  the  floors  with  broken  bottles  and  dishes,  mat- 
tresses and  goodness  knows  what  else;  and  above  all 
arose  that  terrible  smell  of  burnt  flesh. 

We  were  nearly  through  the  town  when  we  were 
hailed  by  a  detachment  of  about  twenty  Belgians,  who 
had  got  through  and  occupied  the  grounds  of  a  villa 
on  the  edge  of  the  village.  We  stopped  the  car,  and 
I  got  out  and  went  ahead,  they  remaining  with  leveled 
rifles,  in  their  usual  hospitable  manner.  When  I  got  to 
within  twenty  feet  of  them  we  heard  the  whirr  of  a 
machine  gim — ^which  the  Belgian  soldiers  call  a  cinema 
— and  a  German  armoured  car  poked  its  nose  around 
the  corner  for  a  look-see.  It  was  firing  high  to  draw 
a  return  fire  and  locate  any  Belgians  there  might  be 
in  the  town,  but  they  all  scurried  behind  cover,  closely 
followed  by  me.  They  were  taking  no  chances,  how- 
ever, and  called  me  to  stay  in  the  middle  of  the  road. 
Without  wasting  any  time  in  formality  I  made  clear 
my  identity,  and,  on  being  shown  through  a  breach  in 
the  wall  a  disagreeable-looking  body  of  German  infan- 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  213 

try  and  lancers  about  a  half  a  mile  away  approaching 
through  a  field,  I  decided  that  we  were  on  the  wrong 
road  and  made  back  for  the  motor. 

I  told  my  passengers  what  was  up,  and  that  we  had 
to  go  back  to  Malines.  M.  de  Woeste,  however,  was  all 
for  going  through  on  the  valid  plea  that  he  had  no 
clean  linen  and  did  not  want  to  spend  another  night 
out  of  Brussels.  Nevertheless  we  turned  around  and 
started  back,  only  to  rush  into  the  big  Belgian  armoured 
car  which  Colonel  Cumont,  hearing  firing,  had  sent 
down  to  rescue  us  and  cover  our  retreat.  This  car 
stayed  in  the  village  for  a  few  minutes  to  meet  the 
German  car,  fired  a  few  shots  at  it,  and  then  came 
back  to  the  outposts. 

We  then  tried  getting  out  toward  the  west  from 
Malines,  but  soon  came  to  a  point  where  the  road  was 
inundated,  and  had  to  turn  back  for  the  third  time. 
It  was  then  gettmg  pretty  late  in  the  afternoon,  and 
even  M.  de  "Woeste  had  to  admit  that  we  had  best 
come  back  to  Antwerp  rather  than  try  to  make  a 
roundabout  journey  to  Brussels  after  dark. 

All  the  way  back  into  Antwerp  we  met  Belgian  forces 
advancing  to  the  attack.  They  are  getting  to  know 
the  flag  better  every  day  and  we  were  greeted  with 
waving  hands  and  cheers  everywhere  we  went.  When 
nearly  in  town,  a  young  chap  ran  out  of  the  ranks  to 
where  we  were  waiting  for  them  to  get  by,  grabbed 
me  by  the  shoulder,  and  said: 

"I  am  born  an  American." 

*' Where  were  you  born.^" 

"Aurora,    Illinois.      My  father  worked  in  *s 

glycerine  works." 


214  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

"'Who  do  you  know  in  Aurora?" 

"I  know  Mr.Evans  and  Mr. and  Mr. 

and  Mr.  Beaupre. "  * 

"What's  your  name?"' 

Just  then  a  non-commissioned  officer  came  along  and 
ordered  him  back  into  the  ranks;  the  motor  started 
ahead,  and  I  lost  track  of  the  boy  in  a  cloud  of  dust. 

At  the  edge  of  town  we  caught  up  with  a  British 
Legation  motor,  which  was  stopped  at  a  railroad  barri- 
cade. Its  occupants  roared  w4th  laughter  when  they 
saw  us,  and  Colonel  Fairholme  gloated  particularly, 
as  he  had  prophesied  that  we  would  not  get  through. 
When  we  got  back  to  the  hotel  we  were  met  with  more 
laughter.  It  was  the  great  joke  of  the  week  to  see  the 
only  people  who  had  previously  been  successful  in  run- 
ning the  lines,  caught  like  the  rest  of  them.  I  was  not 
at  all  dowTi  in  the  mouth,  as  Antwerp  was  most  inter- 
esting, and  I  had  left  only  because  I  had  felt  it  my 
duty  to  get  back  to  work  and  to  keep  the  Minister 
from  worrying.  When  I  saw  that  there  was  no  way 
of  getting  through  I  gladly  accepted  the  decree  of  fate. 

When  we  got  back  to  Antwerp  I  soon  learned  that 
it  would  be  out  of  the  question  to  get  back  to  Brussels 
the  next  day,  or  perhaps  even  the  day  after  that.  The 
Belgians  were  advancing  to  an  enveloping  movement 
and  all  the  surroimding  country  was  to  be  covered  with 
Belgian  troops  in  an  endeavour  to  deal  a  smashing  blow 
to  the  Germans  and  compel  them  to  bring  back  more 
troops  from  the  front  in  France.  Colonel  Fairholme 
asked  me  to  accompany  him  to  the  front  next  morn- 
ing, and  I  accepted  with  an  alacrity  which  startled  him. 

*  Former  American  Minister  at  The  Hague. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  215 

After  dinner  I  made  another  excursion  into  the 
darLoiess  and  told  Monsieur  de  Woeste  that  there  was 
no  prospect  of  getting  back  to  Brussels  the  next  day. 
His  colleagues,  who  were  there  also,  impressed  upon 
him  the  futility  of  going,  and  he  finally  resigned  him- 
self to  staying,  although  he  kept  insisting  that  he 
infinitely  preferred  danger  to  boredom,  which  was  his 
lot  so  long,  as  he  had  nothing  to  do  but  sit  around  the 
hotel. 

Friday  morning  while  I  was  waiting  for  the  Colonel 
to  get  ready  and  was  doing  my  httle  errands  down 
towTi,  there  came  a  great  roaring  of  a  crowd,  and  the 
chauffeur,  knowing  my  curiosity,  put  on  steam  and 
spurted  down  to  the  boulevards  just  in  time  to  run  into 
a  batch  of  three  hundred  German  prisoners  being 
brought  in.  They  were  a  dejected-looking  crowd,  most 
of  them  Landsturm,  haggard  and  sullen.  The  crowd, 
mindful  of  the  things  the  Germans  have  been  doing  to 
this  little  country,  were  in  no  friendly  mood,  but  did 
nothing  violent.  There  was  only  a  small  guard  of 
Belgian  Garde  Civique  to  escort  the  prisoners,  but 
there  were  no  brickbats  or  vegetables.  The  people 
hmited  themselves  to  hoots  and  catcalls  and  hisses — 
which  were  pretty  thick.  And  even  this  was  frowned 
upon  by  the  authorities.  Within  a  couple  of  hours  the 
Mihtary  Governor  had  posted  a  proclamation  begging 
the  people  of  Antwerp  to  maintain  a  more  dignified 
attitude  and  to  refrain  from  any  hostile  demonstration 
against  other  prisoners.  This  batch  was  surrounded,  and 
caught  at  Aerschot,  where  the  Germans  are  said  to 
have  committed  all  sorts  of  atrocities  for  the  past 
three  weeks.     Among  the  prisoners  was  the  command- 


216  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

ing  officer,  who  was  accused  of  being  responsible  for  a 
lot  of  the  outrages.  He  was  examined  by  the  military 
court,  which  sits  for  the  purpose,  and  admitted  having 
done  most  of  the  things  of  which  he  was  accused, 
pleading  in  his  own  defence  that  he  had  done  them 
only  in  obedience  to  superior  orders,  to  which  he  had 
protested.  The  soldiers  who  made  the  capture  dis- 
claimed a  large  part  of  the  credit  for  it  on  the  ground 
that  most  of  the  Germans  were  drunk  and  that  they 
were  too  dazed  to  get  to  their  arms.  Stories  of  this 
sort  keep  piling  in  from  every  side. 

We  got  away  at  eleven  to  Lierre,  where  the  King 
has  estabhshed  his  headquarters  for  his  movement. 
The  road  lay  to  the  southeast  and  was  through  coun- 
try I  had  not  traversed  before.  The  aspect  was  the 
same,  however — long  stretches  of  destroyed  houses 
and  felled  trees,  barbed-wire  entanglements  and  in- 
undated fields.    It  is  a  mournful  sight. 

Little  Lierre  was  unharmed,  and  I  hope  it  may  re- 
main so.  The  Grande  Place  was  filled  with  staff 
motors,  and  there  was  a  constant  coming  and  going  of 
motors  and  motorcycles  bearing  messengers  to  and  from 
the  field  of  operations.  Headquarters  was  established 
in  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  which  bears  on  its  tower  the  date 
1369 — a  fine  old  building,  not  large,  but  beautiful. 

In  the  morning  a  message  had  come  ordering  Colonel 
DuCane  back  to  England.  He  was  out  in  the  field, 
and  we  had  to  wait  until  he  came  in  to  deliver  it  to  him. 
The  King  was  also  away,  but  we  put  in  our  time  talk- 
ing with  the  officers  on  duty  as  to  the  movement  and 
its  progress,  and  then  went  out  for  a  stroll  around  the 
town.     We  looked  into  the  old  church,  and  I  stopped 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  217 

and  bought  an  officer's  forage  cap  as  °a  souvenir  of  the 
place.  By  the  time  we  had  poked  around  the  neigh- 
bourhood and  inspected  the  other  Sehenswilrdigkeiten 
of  the  town  it  was  lunch  time  and  we  joined  an  officers' 
mess  in  the  back  room  of  a  Uttle  cafe  on  the  square,  and 
then,  to  kill  time,  sat  in  front  of  another  cafe  and  had 
coffee  and  a  cigar. 

We  could  not  get  started  until  Colonel  DuCane  had 
returned  and  received  his  message,  so  we  sat  in  front 
of  our  httle  cafe  and  growled.  It  was  maddening  to 
waste  our  time  there  while  the  guns  were  thundering 
all  around  us  and  we  knew  from  the  signs  of  activity 
at  headquarters  that  big  things  were  toward.  After 
a  time  a  little  man,  the  Senator  for  the  district,  came 
out  and  asked  us  into  his  house,  directly  across  the 
street  from  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  It  was  raining  hard 
and  we  were  ready  for  a  change,  so  we  accepted  gladly 
and  were  entertained  with  champagne  and  cigars  to 
the  music  of  falling  rain  and  booming  cannon. 

Our  Senator  was  very  much  down  in  the  mouth 
about  the  situation  in  general  and  wanted  to  talk  about 
it.  The  Colonel  told  him  of  the  bulletins  that  had 
been  published  in  Antwerp  as  to  the  progress  of  the 
campaign,  and  as  this  went  on  he  cheered  up  visibly 
minute  by  minute — whether  as  a  result  of  the  good 
news  or  the  champagne,  I  don't  know. 

The  Colonel  was  called  away  after  a  time  to  talk  to 
Lord  Kitchener  over  the  telephone.  Kitchener  keeps 
himself  informed  directly  as  to  the  progress  of  opera- 
tions and  the  knowledge  that  he  may  drop  in  over  the 
telephone  at  any  minute  gives  his  officers  a  very  com- 
forting feeling  that  they  are  not  forgotten 


218  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Finally,  after*  dark,  Colonel  DuCane  and  Captain 
Ferguson  came  in,  and  we  got  under  way.  It  was  too 
late  to  go  forward  with  hopes  of  seeing  anything,  but 
it  was  evident  that  things  would  be  as  hot  as  ever 
the  next  day  and  that  I  could  not  hope  to  get  my 
charges  back  to  Brussels.  Accordingly  the  Colonel's 
invitation  was  extended  and  accepted,  and  we  turned 
back  toward  Antwerp  considerably  disappointed. 

While  we  were  waiting  around  trying  to  make  up 
our  minds — if  any — ^I  ran  into  young  Strauss,  the  half- 
American,  who  was  in  the  armoured  car  behind  young 
de  Ligne.  He  was  really  the  principal  hero  of  the 
occasion,  having  stood  bolt  upright  in  his  car  and  rid- 
dled the  German  forces  with  his  mitrailleuse  until  the 
few  survivors  turned  and  fled.  He  had  with  him  two 
of  the  other  survivors  of  his  party.  All  of  them  had 
been  decorated  with  the  Order  of  Leopold  for  their 
behaviour.  An  order  like  that  looks  pretty  well  on  a 
private's  uniform,  particularly  when  given  with  such 
good  reason. 

We  had  retreated  inside  the  Hotel  de  Ville  during  a 
particularly  heavy  downpour  of  rain,  when  in  came 
the  King,  who  had  spent  the  whole  day  in  the  field 
with  the  troops.  He  was  drenched  to  the  skin,  but 
came  briskly  up  the  steps,  talking  seriously  with  his 
aide-de-camp.  He  stopped  and  spoke  with  us  all  and 
took  Colonel  DuCane  into  his  study  and  had  a  few 
minutes  talk  with  him  by  way  of  farewell.  The  King 
shows  up  finely  in  the  present  situation  and  all  the 
foreign  military  attaches  are  enthusiastic  about  his 
ability.  He  is  in  supreme  command  of  the  army  and 
no  detail  is  too  insignificant  for  his  attention. 


At  Malines — a  good  background  for  a  photograph  to  send 
home  to  Germany 


His  Emirience,  Cardinal  Mercier,  Archbishop  of  Malines 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    219 

We  got  the  password  and  made  back  for  Antwerp 
in  the  dark,  leaving  Colonel  DuCane  and  Captain 
Ferguson  to  spend  the  night  at  Lierre.  We  were  in 
bad  luck  and  got  stopped  at  every  railroad  crossing 
along  the  way.  Troop  and  supply  trains  were  pouring 
down  toward  the  front  and  Red  Cross  trains  were 
bringing  back  the  wounded  in  large  numbers.  Both 
sides  must  have  suffered  heavily  during  the  day,  and 
there  may  be  several  days  more  of  this  sort  of  fighting 
before  there  is  a  lull. 

When  we  got  back  to  the  hotel  we  found  Sir  Francis 
waiting  for  us  with  a  glowing  telegram  and  an  equally 
glowing  face.  It  was  the  most  enthusiastic  message 
yet  received  from  the  British  War  Office,  which  has 
been  very  restrained  in  its  daily  bulletins.  For  the 
first  time  that  day  it  spoke  with  a  little  punch,  speak- 
ing of  the  *' routed  enemy"  and  their  being  " vigourously 
pressed."  We  tumbled  through  a  hasty  bath  and  got 
down  to  dinner  in  short  order. 

After  dinner  it  was  the  same  old  performance  of 
going  over  to  the  Grand  Hotel  and  labouring  with  Mon- 
sieur de  Woeste,  who  was  still  bent  on  getting  home 
to  his  clean  linen  without  further  delay.  It  took  the 
united  arguments  of  the  Cabinet,  which  was  in  session, 
to  convince  him  that  it  would  be  useless  and  foolish  to 
try  to  get  away.  Finally  he  yielded,  with  a  worse  grace 
than  on  the  previous  evening.  I  had  a  comfortable 
visit  with  several  of  the  Ministers,  who  were  glad  to 
hear  news  of  their  families  in  Brussels,  and  asked  me 
to  remember  all  sorts  of  messages  to  be  given  on  my 
return.  I  only  hope  that  I  shall  not  get  the  messages 
mixed  and  get  too  affectionate  with  the  wrong  people. 


220  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

The  Cabinet  was  going  through  the  latest  telegrams 
from  the  various  fields  of  action.  They  even  had  some 
from  Servia  and  were  decidedly  cheered  up,  a  big 
change  from  the  dogged  determination  with  which  they 
were  facing  bad  news  the  last  time  I  was  in  Antwerp. 

Saturday  morning  the  Colonel  and  I  were  called  at 
six,  and  at  seven  we  got  away  in  a  pouring  rain  over  the 
same  road  to  Lierre  that  we  had  travelled  the  day  before. 
There  was  a  big  force  of  workmen  hard  at  it  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  outer  forts,  burning  houses  and  chopping  down 
trees  and  building  barbed-wire  entanglements.  It  is  a 
scene  of  desolation,  but  it  is  necessary  in  a  fight  like  this. 

We  found  things  moving  rapidly  at  headquarters  in 
Lierre.  Messengers  were  pouring  in  and  orders  going 
out  with  twice  the  activity  of  the  day  before.  The 
movement  had  been  under  way  for  two  hours  when  we 
got  there  and  the  gims  were  booming  all  around. 
After  learning  as  much  as  we  could  of  the  disposition 
of  the  troops  we  went  out  and  stocked  up  with  bread, 
cheese,  and  mineral  water,  and  started  forth  to  see 
what  we  could  of  the  operations.  We  took  along  a 
young  oflScer  from  headquarters  to  show  us  the  road. 
We  soon  saw  that  he  did  not  know  the  roads  and  could 
not  even  read  a  map,  and  had  to  take  over  that  work 
ourselves.  Colonel  Fairholme  and  I  went  in  my  motor 
with  the  headquarters  passenger  and  Colonel  DuCane 
and  Ferguson  followed  in  their  own  car  with  an  orderly. 
We  got  to  Malines  without  difliculty  and  got  out  for  a 
look  at  the  Cathedral.  It  is  a  dreadful  sight,  all  the 
wonderful  old  fifteenth  century  glass  in  powder  on  the 
floor.  Part  of  the  roof  is  caved  in  and  there  are  great 
gaping   holes  in  the  lawn,  showing  where   the    shells 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  221 

struck  that  fell  short  of  their  mark.  A  few  of  the  sur- 
rounding houses,  belonging  to  entirely  peaceful  citi- 
zens, were  completely  wiped  out  while  they  were  get- 
ting the  range.  It  is  hard  to  see  what  useful  military 
purpose  is  served  by  smashing  churches  and  peaceful 
habitations,  when  there  are  no  troops  about  the  place. 
Malines  was  bombarded  when  the  troops  had  with- 
drawn!.    It  is  hard  to  reconcile  with  Gott  mit  uns. 

Before  we  left  Lierre,  nine  troopers  of  the  Land- 
sturm  were  marched  into  the  hallway  of  the  Hotel 
de  Ville,  to  be  examined  by  the  officer  who  is  there  for 
that  purpose.  They  were  a  depressed  lot  who  had 
run  away  and  given  themselves  up,  so  as  to  be  spared 
the  hardships  and  dangers  of  the  rest  of  the  war.  They 
answered  questions  freely,  telling  all  they  knew  as 
to  the  disposition  of  troops  and  making  their  getaway 
toward  the  local  lockup  with  great  alacrity  as  soon  as 
the  word  was  given  to  move.  Most  of  them  were 
Bavarians.  Colonel  Fairholme  speaks  German  like  a 
native.  He  talked  with  these  chaps,  and  there  was 
some  interesting  conversation.  They  were  all  with- 
out enthusiasm  for  the  war,  and  all  expressed  indigna- 
tion at  having  been  brought  out  of  the  country, 
maintaining  that  the  Landsturm  cannot  be  used  for 
anything  except  the  maintenance  of  order  in  the 
Empire.  I  think  they  are  wrong  about  that,  but 
this  was  no  joint  debate  on  German  law,  and  no  attempt 
was  made  to  sooth  their  injured  feelings.  A  lot  of 
men  were  brought  in  while  we  were  there,  some  of  them 
prisoners  taken  during  the  fighting,  but  a  great  many 
of  them  fugitives  who  were  sick  of  the  war,  and  only 
asked  to  get  off  with  a  whole  skin. 


222  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

As  they  marched  out  of  the  hall,  the  King  came  in 
from  the  field  for  a  look  at  the  morning's  telegrams. 
He  had  been  out  since  long  before  daybreak,  and  was 
covered  with  rain  and  mud.  He  shook  himself  vigor- 
ously, spraying  everybody  with  raindrops,  and  then 
stopped  to  speak  to  us  before  going  in  for  a  cup  of 
coffee  and  a  look  at  the  news. 

From  Malines  we  made  back  along  the  northern 
side  of  the  canal,  in  an  endeavour  to  find  the  head- 
quarters of  the  — th  Division.  We  went  through  a  little 
village  where  all  the  inhabitants  were  standing  in  the 
road,  Hstening  to  the  cannonading,  and  spun  out  upon 
an  empty  and  suspiciously  silent  country  road.  A 
httle  way  out  we  found  a  couple  of  dead  horses  which 
the  thrifty  peasants  had  already  got  out  and  skinned. 
I  didn't  like  the  looks  of  it,  and  in  a  minute  the  Colonel 
agreed  that  he  thought  it  did  not  look  Hke  a  road 
behind  the  lines,  but  our  httle  staff  officer  was  cock- 
sure that  he  knew  just  what  he  was  talking  about, 
and  ordered  the  chauffeur  to  go  ahead.  Then  we  heard 
three  sharp  toots  on  the  horn  of  the  car  behind — the 
signal  to  stop  and  wait.  And  it  came  pulling  up  along- 
side with  an  inquiry  as  to  what  we  meant  by  "barging" 
along  this  sort  of  a  road  which  hkely  as  not  would 
land  us  straight  inside  the  enemy's  lines.  There  was 
a  spirited  discussion  as  to  whether  we  should  go  ahead 
or  go  back  and  strike  over  through  Rymenam,  when 
we  heard  a  shell  burst  over  the  road  about  half  a  mile 
ahead,  and  then  saw  a  motor  filled  with  Belgian 
soldiers  coming  back  toward  us  full  tilt.  The  Colonel 
stopped  them  and  learned  that  they  had  been  out  on 
a  reconnaissance  with  a  motor-cyclist  to  locate  the 


The  children  of  Antwerp  played  at  soldiering  through  the  siege 


The  nuns,  scornful  of  danger,  stayed  where  they  could  render  the 

greatest  service 


German  troops  in  front  of  Hotel  de  Ville,  Brussels 


>0I»;    •■---^-^ m\nmmmmtm 

Types  of  von  Arnim's  troops 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  223 

German  lines,  which  were  found  to  be  just  beyond 
where  the  shell  had  burst,  killing  the  motor-cycUst. 
It  would  have  been  a  little  too  ignominious  for  us  to  have 
gone  bowling  straight  into  the  lines  and  get  taken 
prisoners.  We  turned  around  and  left  that  road 
to  return  no  more  that  way.  We  got  about  half-way 
up  to  Rymenam  when  we  met  some  Belgian  officers 
in  a  motor,  who  told  us  that  a  battery  of  the  big 
French  howitzers,    which  had  just  gone  into   action 

for  the  first  time,  were  in  a  wood  near  H .     We 

turned  around  once  more,  and  made  for  H by 

way  of  Malines.  We  found  the  headquarters  of  the 
— ^th  Division,  and  went  in  and  watched  the  news  come 
in  over  the  field  telephone  and  telegraph,  and  by 
messengers  on  motor-cycles,  bicycles  and  horses  straight 
from  the  field.  The  headquarters  was  established  in 
a  little  roadside  inn  about  half  a  mile  outside  the  town, 
and  was  as  orderly  as  a  bank.  Officers  sat  at  the  various 
instruments  and  took  notes  of  the  different  reports  as 
they  came  in.  Reports  were  discussed  quickly  but 
quietly,  and  orders  sent  out  promptly  but  without 
confusion.  The  maps  were  kept  up  to  the  minute 
by  changing  the  little  flags  to  show  the  positions  of 
the  different  troops  right  at  the  minute.  There  was 
telephone  communication  with  the  forts,  and  several 
times  they  were  ordered  to  pour  fire  into  a  certain 
spot  to  cover  an  advance  or  a  retreat  of  parts  of  the 
Belgian  forces,  and,  at  other  times,  to  cease  firing,  so 
as  to  let  Belgian  troops  cross  or  occupy  the  exact  spot 
they  had  been  bombarding.  It  was  a  wonderful  sight 
to  watch,  and  it  was  hard  to  realise  that  this  was 
merely  a  highly  scientific  business  of  killing  human 


224  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

beings  on  a  large  scale.  It  was  so  business-like  and 
without  animus,  that  to  anyone  not  knowing  the 
language  or  conditions,  it  might  have  passed  as  a  busy 
day  in  a  war  ofBce  commissary  when  ordering  supphes 
and  giving  orders  for  shipment. 

Just  outside  the  headquarters  was  one  of  the  fine 
German  kitchen  wagons  with  two  fine  Norman  horses 
which  had  pulled  it  all  the  way  from  Germany.  It 
had  been  stationed  in  the  grounds  of  a  chateau  not 
far  away,  and  three  men  of  its  crew  were  hard  at  work 
getting  a  meal  when  a  little  Belgian  soldier  with  two 
weeks' growth  of  beard  waltzed  into  the  garden,  shot 
one  of  the  men  dead  and  captured  the  other  two.  He 
disarmed  them,  put  ropes  around  their  necks  and 
drove  the  kitchen  to  headquarters  in  triumph.  He 
was  proud  as  punch  of  his  exploit,  and,  for  that  matter, 
so  was  everybody  else  around  the  place. 

In  a  field  of  turnips  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  away 
from  the  headquarters  were  the  howitzers.  There 
were  three  of  them  in  a  row  with  three  ammunition 
wagons.  They  had  been  sent  here  only  a  few  days 
ago,  and  they  were  promptly  put  into  action.  They 
were  planted  here,  slightly  inside  the  range  of  the  guns 
from  the  outer  forts,  and  were  able  to  drop  shells  six 
miles  from  where  we  stood,  or  about  five  miles  outside 
the  range  of  the  fort  guns.  They  toss  a  shell  about 
two  feet  long,  filled  with  deadly  white  powder,  six 
miles  in  ten  seconds,  and  when  the  shell  strikes  any- 
thing," it  thoes  rocks  at  yeh!"  as  the  darkey  said  about 
our  navy  guns.  The  battery  was  planted  down  behind 
a  httle  clump  of  pines,  and  was  dropping  shells  into 
a  httle  village  where  there  was  a  considerable  force 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  225 

of  Germans  about  to  be  attacked.  The  Germans  must 
have  been  puzzled  by  this  development,  for  they  had 
counted  on  being  able  to  advance  safely  up  to  the  range 
of  the  forts,  feeling  sure  that  the  Belgians  had  no 
powerful  field  guns  of  this  sort. 

We  were  introduced  to  the  oflBcers  commanding  the 
battery,  and  watched  their  work  for  nearly  two  hours. 
One  of  the  oflScers  was  Count  Guy  d'Oultremont,  adju- 
tant of  the  Court,  whom  I  had  known  in  Brussels.  He 
was  brown  as  a  berry,  had  lost  a  lot  of  superfluous 
flesh,  and  was  really  a  fine-looking  man.  He  had  been  in 
Namur,  and  had  got  away  with  the  Belgian  troops  who 
went  out  the  back  door  into  France  and  came  home 
by  ship. 

After  we  had  been  watching  a  little  while,  an  aero- 
plane came  circliug  aroimd,  evidently  to  spot  the 
place  where  these  deadly  cannon  were.  It  cruised 
around  for  some  time  in  vain,  but  finally  crossed 
straight  overhead.  As  soon  as  we  were  located,  the 
machine  darted  away  to  spread  the  news,  so  that  the 
big  German  guns  could  be  trained  on  us  and  silence 
the  battery;  but  the  Belgians  were  Johnny-at-the-rat- 
hole  again,  and  he  was  winged  by  rifle  fire  from  a 
crowd  of  soldiers  who  were  resting  near  the  head- 
quarters. They  killed  the  observer  and  wounded  the 
pilot  himseK,  to  say  nothing  of  poking  a  hole  in  the 
oil  tank.  The  machine  volplaned  to  earth  a  few 
hundred  yards  from  where  we  were,  and  the  pilot  was 
made  prisoner.  The  machine  was  hauled  back  to  the 
village  and  shipped  on  the  first  outgoing  train  to 
Antwerp  as  a  trophy. 

We  were  leaving  the  battery  and  were  shpping  and 


226  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

sliding  through  the  cabbages  on  our  way  back  to  the 
'road,  when  we  met  the  King  on  foot,  accompanied 
only  by  an  aide-de-camp,  coming  in  for  a  look  at  the 
big  guns.  He  stopped  and  spoke  to  us  and  finally 
settled  down  for  a  real  talk,  evidently  thinking  that 
this  was  as  good  a  time  as  any  other  he  was  likely 
to  find  in  the  immediate  future. 

After  talking  shop  with  the  two  colonels,  he  turned 
to  me  for  the  latest  gossip.  He  asked  me  about  the 
story  that  the  German  officers  had  drunk  his  wine 
at  the  Palace  in  Laeken.  I  told  him  that  it  was 
generally  accepted  in  Brussels,  and  gave  him  rny 
authority  for  the  yarn.  He  chuckled  a  little  and  then 
said,  in  his  quiet  way,  with  a  merry  twinkle:  ''You 
know  I  never  drink  anything  but  water."  He  cogitated 
a  minute  and  then,  with  an  increased  twinkle,  he 
added:  "And  it  was  not  very  good  wine!"  He 
seemed  to  think  that  he  had  quite  a  joke  on  the 
Germans. 

As  we  talked,  the  sound  of  firing  came  from  the 
German  lines  not  far  away,  and  shrapnel  began  falling 
in  a  field  on  the  other  side  of  the  road.  The  Germans 
were  evidently  trying  to  locate  the  battery  in  that 
way.  Most  of  the  shrapnel  burst  in  the  air  and  did 
no  damage,  but  some  of  it  fell  to  the  ground  before 
bursting  and  sent  up  great  fountains  of  the  soft  black 
earth  with  a  cloud  of  gray  smoke  with  murky 
yellow  splotches  in  it.  It  was  not  a  reassuring  sight, 
and  I  was  perfectly  willing  to  go  away  from  there, 
but  being  a  true  diplomat,  I  remembered  that  the 
King  ranked  me  by  several  degrees  in  the  hierarchy, 
and  that  he  must  give  the  sign  of  departure.     Kings 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  227 

seem  powerless  to  move  at  such  times,  however,  so 
we  stayed  and  talked  while  the  nasty  things  popped. 
His  Majesty  and  I  cHmbed  to  a  dignified  position  on 
a  pile  of  rubbish,  whence  we  could  get  a  good  view  up 
and  down  the  road,  and  see  the  French  gims  which 
were  in  action  again. 

A  little  later  Ferguson,  w^ho  was  standing 
not  far  away,  got  hit  with  a  httle  sliver  and  had  a 
hole  punched  in  the  shoulder  of  his  overcoat.  It 
stopped  there,  however,  and  did  not  hurt  him  in 
the  least.  He  looked  rather  astonished,  pulled  the 
httle  stranger  from  the  hole  it  had  made,  looked  at  it 
quizzically,  and  then  put  it  in  his  pocket  and  went 
on  watching  the  French  guns.  I  think  he  would  have 
been  quite  justified  in  stopping  the  battle  and  showing 
his  trophy  to  everybody  on  both  sides. 

The  King  was  much  interested  in  all  the  news  from 
Brussels,  how  the  people  were  behaving,  what  the 
Germans  were  doing,  whether  there  were  crowds  on 
the  streets,  and  how  the  town  felt  about  the  perform- 
ances of  the  army. 

He  realised  what  has  happened  to  his  little  country, 
and  made  me  realise  it  for  the  first  time.  He  said 
that  France  was  having  a  hard  time,  but  added  that 
perhaps  a  sixth  of  her  territory  was  invaded  and 
occupied,  but  that  every  bit  of  his  country  had  been 
ravaged  and  devastated  with  the  exception  of  the  httle 
bit  by  the  sea  coast  and  Antwerp  itself,  which  was 
getting  pretty  rough  treatment,  in  order  to  put  it  in 
shape  to  defend  itself.  He  spoke  with  a  great  deal  of 
feeling.     And  no  wonder! 

Then  to  change  the  tone  of  the  conversation,  he 


228  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

looked  do^vn  at  my  pretty  patent  leather  shoes,  and 
asked  in  a  bantering  way  whether  those  were  a  part 
of  my  fighting  kit,  and  where  I  had  got  them.  I 
answered:  "I  got  them  several  months  ago  to  make 
my  first  bow  to  Your  Majesty,  at  Laeken!"  He 
looked  around  for  a  bit  at  the  soggy  fields,  the  march- 
ing troops,  and  then  dowTi  at  the  steaming  manure 
heap,  and  remarked  with  a  httle  quirk  to  his  hps: 
"  We  did  not  think  then  that  we  should  hold  our  first  good 
conversation  in  a  place  like  this,  did  we?  "  He  smiled  in 
a  sad  way,  but  there  was  a  lot  more  sadness  than  mirth 
in  what  he  said. 

Guy  d'Oultremont  came  up  and  said  something 
that  I  did  not  understand,  and  we  started  back  toward 
the  headquarters.  We  stopped  opposite  the  inn,  and 
the  two  colonels  were  called  up  for  a  little  more 
talk. 

Just  then  a  crowd  of  priests,  with  Red  Cross  brassards 
on  their  arms,  came  down  the  road  on  their  way  to  the 
battlefield  to  gather  up  the  wounded.  With  his  usual 
shyness  the  King  withdrew  a  few  steps  to  seek  shelter 
behind  a  motor  that  was  standing  near  by.  As  we 
talked,  we  edged  back  a  httle,  forcing  him  to  come 
forward,  so  that  he  was  in  plain  sight  of  the  priests, 
who  promptly  broke  out  in  a  hearty  ''Vive  le  roir  He 
blushed  and  waved  his  hand  at  them,  and,  after  they 
had  passed  by,  shook  hands  with  us  and  followed  them 
on  foot  out  onto  the  field.  In  modem  warfare  a  King's 
place  is  supposed  to  be  in  a  perfectly  safe  spot,  well 
back  of  the  firing  line,  but  he  does  not  play  the  game 
that  way.  Every  day  since  the  war  began,  he  has  gone 
straight  out  into  the  thick  of  it,  with  the  shells  bursting 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  229 

all  around  and  even  within  range  of  hostile  rifle  fire. 
It  is  a  dangerous  thing  for  him  to  do,  but  it  does  the 
troops  good,  and  puts  heart  into  them  for  the  desperate 
fighting  they  are  called  upon  to  do.  They  are  all 
splendidly  devoted  to  him. 

The  rain  stopped  as  we  got  into  the  motors  and 
started  back  toward  Mahnes,  with  the  idea  of  locating 
the  other  battery  of  ohusiers.  There  was  a  sharp 
volley  of  three  toots  on  Colonel  DuCane's  horn,  and 
we  came  to  a  sudden  stop,  with  the  emergency  brakes 
on,  to  receive  the  information  that  it  was  two  o'clock 
and  time  for  lunch.  None  of  us  had  kept  any  track 
of  time,  and  all  were  ready  to  go  sailing  along  in- 
definitely without  food.  As  soon  as  we  had  noticed 
the  time,  however,  we  all  became  instantly  hungry, 
and  moved  along,  looking  for  a  good  place  for  lunch. 
I  had  the  happy  idea  of  suggesting  the  convent  where 
we  had  taken  refuge  on  Thursday,  and  thither  we 
repaired  to  be  most  warmly  greeted  by  all  the  nuns, 
and  most  particularly  by  the  little  Irish  sister  who  was 
overjoyed  to  see  British  uniforms  and  hear  some  war 
news  that  she  could  believe.  She  hailed  me  with,  "Oh! 
and  it's  the  riprisintitive  of  the  Prisidint!"  The  nuns 
gave  us  a  table  in  the  park  and  two  big  benches,  and 
we  got  out  our  bread  and  cheese  and  chocolate  and 
a  few  other  things  that  Colonel  DuCane  had  found 
somewhere,  and  had  a  most  comfortable  meal  with 
a  towering  pitcher  of  beer  brought  out  from  the  convent, 
to  give  us  valour  for  the  afternoon's  work. 

After  lunch  we  went  back  through  Malines  again, 
through  the  railroad  yards,  bumping  over  the  tracks, 
and  away  toward  Muysen  and  Rymenam  to  see  the 


230  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

other  batteries.  I  was  struck  in  going  through  the 
railway  yards,  which  I  had  always  seen  teeming  with 
activity  and  movement,  to  see  that  all  the  rails  are 
covered  deep  with  rust — ^probably  for  the  first  time. 
Think  of  it! 

After  leaving  Muysen,  our  road  lay  for  a  mile  or  so 
along  a  canal  with  open  fields  on  either  side.  Uhlan 
patrols  had  been  reported  in  this  part  of  the  country, 
which  was  in  a  weak  spot  in  the  Belgian  lines,  and  the 
Colonel  told  the  staff  officer  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout 
and  be  ready  with  his  revolver  and  prepared  for  a  burst 
of  speed.  That  mihtary  genius  replied  with  an  air 
of  assurance:  "Oh,  that's  all  right.  They  cannot  cross 
the  canal."  The  Colonel  confined  himself  to  saying 
mildly:  "No,  but  bullets  can!"  Little  Napoleon  said 
nothing  more,  but  I  noticed  that  he  unstrapped  his 
revolver  without  loss  of  time. 

We  were  bowling  along  the  road,  looking  for  the 
battery,  when  there  was  the  most  enormous  noise 
which  tore  the  earth  asunder  and  the  universe  trembled. 
I  looked  around  to  the  left,  and  there  not  more  than 
a  hundred  feet  away  were  those  three  husky  French 
guns  which  had  just  gone  off  right  over  our  heads! 
We  had  found  them  all  right,  but  I  should  prefer  to 
find  them  in  some  other  way  next  time. 

We  spent  a  little  time  looking  at  them,  and  Ferguson 
had  them  get  out  some  of  the  explosive  and  show  it 
to  me.  It  comes  in  long  strips  that  look  for  all  the 
world  like  chewing  gum — the  strips  about  the  same 
proportions,  only  longer.  I  fail  to  see,  however,  how 
they  can  be  made   to   blow   up. 

After  a  bit  we  got  back  into  the  cars,  and  started 


The  Hotel  de  Ville,  Louvain 


Belgian  War  Medals 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  231 

out  to  cruise  around  to  the  Belgian  left  wing  and  watch 
a  little  of  the  infantry  fighting  at  close  quarters.  We 
very  soon  began  running  into  stragglers  who  informed 
us  that  the  — th  Division  was  being  driven  back,  and 
that  a  retreat  was  in  progress.  Soon  we  came  upon 
supply  trains  and  ammunition  wagons  making  for  the 
rear,  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  the  troops  when  they 
began  to  move.  We  were  not  anxious  to  be  tangled 
up  in  the  midst  of  a  retreat,  and  obliged  to  spend  the 
night  trying  to  work  our  way  out  of  it,  so  we  forged 
ahead  and  got  back  to  Lierre  as  fast  as  we  could.  It 
was  raining  hard  as  we  came  in,  and  we  took  refuge  in 
the  Hotel  de  Ville,  where  the  colonels  read  their  tele- 
grams and  got  off  a  report  to  London.  One  of  their 
telegrams,  brought  the  unwelcome  news  that  Ferguson 
was  also  recalled  to  England.  They  are  evidently  hard 
put  to  it  to  find  enough  oflScers  to  handle  the  volunteer 
forces.  He  will  have  to  stay  on  for  a  few  days,  but 
Colonel  DuCane  came  back  with  us  and  left  the  next 
morning  for  England  by  way  of  Ostend. 

When  we  got  back  to  the  hotel  after  a  fast  run,  I 
found  that  Inglebleek,  the  King's  Secretary,  had  been 
around  twice  for  me,  and  wanted  me  to  go  at  once 
to  the  Palace.  I  jumped  into  the  car  and  ran  over 
there,  to  learn  that  the  Queen  wanted  to  see  me. 
She  was  then  at  dinner,  and  he  thought  it  would  do 
the  next  time  I  came  up — she  seems  to  have  wanted 
more  news  of  Brussels — ^nothing  pressing.  She  had 
told  Inglebleek  to  give  me  a  set  of  the  pictures  she  had 
had  taken  of  the  damage  done  to  the  Cathedral 
at  Malines.  They  are  interesting  as  a  matter  of 
record. 


232  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Sir  Francis  had  another  good  bulletin  from  the  War 
Office,  and  was  beaming.  The  colleagues  came  and 
gathered  round  the  table,  and  chortled  with  satis- 
faction. 

Heavy  cannonading  continued  well  into  the  night, 
to  cover  the  advance  of  the  — th  Division,  which  had 
been  reinforced  and  was  moving  back  into  the  dark 
and  rain  to  take  up  its  old  position  and  be  ready  for 
the  Germans  in  the  morning. 

I  was  up  and  about  early  on  Sunday  morning.  Had 
breakfast  with  Count  Goblet  d'Alviella,  one  of  the 
Ministers  of  State.  Gathered  up  Monsieur  de  Woeste 
and  Faura,  and  made  for  the  Scheldt  and  Brussels.  In- 
stead of  going  across  on  the  boat  as  we  had  to  do  the  last 
time,  we  found  a  broad  and  comfortable  poDtoon 
bridge  placed  on  canal  boats  and  schooners  lashed 
together  and  moored  from  one  side  of  the  river  to  the 
other.  Any  time  they  hke,  the  Belgians  can  cut  the 
string,  and  there  is  no  way  of  getting  into  the  city 
from  that  side.  There  was  a  tremendous  wind  blowing 
and  the  rain  fell  in  torrents — short  showers — from  the 
time  we  left  Antwerp  until  we  came  sailing  into  town 
here. 

The  bridge  at  Termonde  had  been  blown  up  by  the 
Germans  on  evacuating  the  place  after  having  de- 
stroyed the  entire  town,  so  there  was  no  thought  of 
returning  that  way.  I  knew  there  could  be  nothing 
doing  the  direct  way  through  Malines,  so  decided  on 
a  long  swing  around  the  circle  by  way  of  Ghent  as  the 
only  practicable  way.  We  found  Belgian  troops  all 
the  way  to  Ghent,  and  had  no  trouble  beyond  giving 
the  password  which  I  had.    We  drew  up  at  a  restaurant 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  233 

in  a  downpour  and  had  a  hasty  lunch,  getting  under 
way  again  immediately  afterward. 

About  ten  kilometers  this  side  of  Ghent  we  came  to 
Melle,  a  village  which  had  been  destroyed,  and  another 
where  a  number  of  houses  had  been  burned.  A  nice- 
looking*^young  chap  told  us  that  there  had  been  a  fight 
there  the  day  before  and  that  the  Germans  had  set 
fire  to  the  place  as  they  retreated — ^just  from  cussedness, 
SQ  far  as  he  could  see.  There,  and  at  another  place 
along  the  road,  peasants  told  us  that  they  had  been 
made  to  march  in  front  of  the  German  troops  when 
they  marched  against  the  Belgians.  I  don't  hke  to 
believe  that  there  is  any  truth  in  that  story  but  it 
comes  from  every  direction  and  the  people  tell  it  in  a 
most  convincing  way. 

We  found  no  Germans  until  we  were  this  side  of 
Assche  and  then  our  adventures  were  evidently  at  an 
end.  As  we  came  in  we  could  hear  heavy  cannonading 
from  the  direction  of  Vilvorde  and  Hofstade  and  knew 
that  the  fight  was  still  going  on.  They  had  been  hear- 
ing it  in  town  for  a  couple  of  days. 

The  family  at  the  Legation  had  been  somewhat 
anxious,  but  had  learned  through  the  Germans  that 
we  were  all  right — ^evidently  from  somebody  who  got 
through  the  lines.  I  had  to  sit  right  do^vn  and  tell  the 
story  of  my  life  from  one  end  to  the  other. 

I  never  got  over  the  idea  in  Antwerp  of  the  incon- 
gruity of  going  out  onto  the  field  all  day  and  fighting 
a  big  battle,  or  rather,  watching  it  fought,  and  then 
sailing  comfortably  home  to  a  big  modern  hotel  in  a 
motor  and  dressing  for  dinner.  I  don't  think  there 
has  ever  been  a  war  quite  like  this  before. 


234  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Herwarth  has  gone  to  the  front  for  some  active 
service.  I  am  sorry  to  miss  him.  He  went  up  to 
Hofstade  the  day  I  was  to  have  returned,  and  waited 
for  me  about  an  hour,  but  the  fire  got  too  thick  for  him 
and  he  came  back  and  reported  that  I  would  not  be 
able  to  get  through. 

Monsieur  de  Woeste  called  this  afternoon  and  paid 
his  respects.  He  gave  the  Minister  an  account  of  the 
attempts  we  made  to  get  through  that  made  his  hair 
stand  on  end  for  an  hour  afterward. 

Brussels,  September  16,  19 H. — ^To-day  has  brought 
a  long  string  of  callers,  and  between  times  we  took 
satisfying  looks  at  the  passing  troops,  which  have  been 
pouring  into  town  steadily  yesterday  and  to-day.  No- 
body has  established  to  my  satisfaction  whence  they 
come  or  whither  they  are  going.  There  are  all  sorts  of 
explanations  offered,  each  explanation  being  quite  con- 
vincing to  the  one  who  offers  it.  Most  people  say 
that  they  are  being  brought  in  for  the  siege  of  Antwerp, 
which  is  about  to  begin.  The  siege  of  Antwerp  has 
begun  so  often  and  never  materialized  that  I  decline 
to  get  excited  about  it  at  this  stage  of  the  game. 
Another  explanation  is  that  the  German  retreat  in 
France  is  so  precipitate  that  some  of  the  troops  and 
supply  trains  are  already  pouring  through  here  on  their 
way  home.  I  cannot  get  up  much  enthusiasm  for  that 
either.  Some  imaginative  souls  maintain  that  these 
are  forces  being  brought  back  to  fight  against  the  Rus- 
sians. None  of  these  stories  sound  good  to  me  and  I 
have  resigned  myself  to  the  belief  that  the  only  really 
safe  conjecture  is  that  this  "is  a  movement  of  troops.'* 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  235 

This  morning  Baron  von  der  Lancken  came  in  and 
asked  me  to  testify  as  to  what  we  had  seen  at  Louvain. 
Of  course  what  we  saw  had  no  bearing  on  the  original 
cause  of  the  trouble  and  there  is  no  reason  for  me  to 
push  my  way  into  the  controversy.  Besides,  I  can't  do 
it  without  orders  from  Washington. 

We  are  getting  quite  accustomed  to  having  no  com- 
munications with  the  outside  world.  Railroads,  of 
com-se,  have  ceased  to  work,  except  for  military  pur- 
poses, and  there  is  no  way  for  the  general  public  to  get 
about.  There  has  been  no  postal  service  since  the 
Germans  marched  in  on  August  20th,  and  we  don't 
know  when  we  shall  have  any.  All  telephones  were 
cut  off  within  a  few  hours  of  the  arrival  of  the  German 
army.  There  are  no  newspapers,  and  all  the  informa- 
tion we  are  supposed  to  have  about  happenings  in  the 
outside  world  is  fed  to  us  in  the  form  of  placards  on 
the  walls  of  the  city.  Nobody  takes  any  great  amount 
of  stock  in  what  these  placards  tell  us,  although  they 
have  sometimes  told  us  the  truth,  and  consequently 
there  is  a  great  demand  for  the  few  copies  of  Dutch 
and  English  newspapers  that  are  smuggled  across  the 
border  and  brought  to  Brussels.  The  prices  vary 
according  to  the  number  of  papers  to  be  had,  and  run 
from  five  francs  to  one  hundred  francs  for  a  single 
copy  of  the  Times,  Those  who  do  not  care  to  spend 
so  much  can  rent  a  paper  by  the  hour — and  customers 
are  not  wanting  on  this  basis.  By  way  of  discourag- 
ing this  traffic  it  is  said  that  the  Germans  have  shot 
several  men  caught  smuggling  papers.  Those  caught 
selling  them  in  Brussels  are  arrested  and  given  stiff 
terms  of  imprisonment.     All  taxis  disappeared  many 


236  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

days  ago  and  altogether  the  normal  life  of  the  town 
has  ceased.  It  will  be  a  rollicking  place  from 
now  on. 

Brussels,  September  17,  19H. — ^This  morning  I 
spent  digging  my  way  out  from  mider  a  landslide  of 
detail  work  which  has  been  piling  up  on  my  desk, 
until  I  could  hardly  see  over  it.  I  now  have  it  out 
of  the  way,  and  can  breathe  again  freely  for  the 
moment. 

This  afternoon  Baron  de  Menten  de  Home,  a  Lieu- 
tenant in  the  Second  Regiment  of  Lancers,  was  brought 
in  to  the  Legation,  a  prisoner,  still  wearing  his  Belgian 

uniform.     He  was  captured  last  Friday  near  H 

while  I  was  there.  Nyssens,  the  Major  who  was  in  the 
convent  with  us,  told  me  that  one  of  his  officers  had 
gone  off  on  a  reconnaissance  and  had  not  reappeared; 
he  w^as  greatly  worried  about  him,  but  could  not  send 
any  one  out  to  look  for  him.  This  was  the  man.  He 
was  surrounded,  in  company  with  several  of  his  men, 
and  took  to  cover  in  a  field  of  beets.  Night  was 
coming  on,  and  they  thought  that  when  the  fight  was 
over  and  the  German  troops  who  were  all  about  them 
had  retired,  they  would  be  able  to  work  their  way  out 
and  rejoin  their  own  forces,  but  twenty-five  Germans 
surrounded  them,  and  after  killing  all  the  others,  took 
this  man  prisoner. 

His  only  idea  is  to  be  exchanged  and  rejoin  his 
regiment;  and,  as  is  the  case  with  pretty  much  every- 
body else  nowadays,  he  turned  to  the  American  Lega- 
tion. He  made  such  a  good  plea  that  the  German 
authorities  brought  him  here  yesterday,  and  left  him 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  237 

an  hour,  on  his  giving  his  word  of  honour  not  to  divulge 
anything  as  to  the  mihtary  movements  he  had  seen 
while  a  prisoner. 

Of  course,  we  could  not  arrange  to  make  the  exchange, 
but  he  stayed  on  for  an  hour  and  told  us  of  his  ad- 
ventures. He  was  a  pathetic  figure  in  his  dirty  uniform, 
sitting  on  a  little  chair  in  my  office  and  telling  in  a 
simple  way  of  all  he  had  been  through — laying  more 
stress  on  the  sufferings  and  death  of  his  soldiers  than 
on  anything  that  had  happened  to  him.  His  own 
brother  had  been  killed  in  the  fighting  around  Liege, 
and  he  had  heard  that  his  brother-in-law,  of  whom  he 
was  very  fond,  had  also  been  mortally  wounded. 
While  at  Lou  vain,  he  had  visited  the  military  hospitals, 
and  had  a  hst  of  Belgian  officers  who  were  there.  I 
took  a  list  of  them,  by  permission  of  the  German  officer 
who  came  after  the  prisoner,  and  shall  send  word  to 
their  families. 

I  went  around  to  see  the  young  man's  sister,  and 
sent  her  off  to  have  a  look  at  him  at  headquarters, 
where  he  is  being  well  treated.  It  is  a  joy  to  be  able 
to  do  some  of  these  Httle  errands.  Nobody  can  realize 
the  amount  of  bitter  sorrow  there  is  in  this  country — 
we  cannot  realize  it  ourselves,  but  now  and  then  a  wave 
of  it  rises  up  to  confront  and  overwhelm  us. 

Miss  T ,  an  American  owning  a  school  here,  was 

in  late  this  afternoon  to  complain  of  the  behaviour  of 
a  couple  of  officers  and  gentlemen  who  did  her  the 
honour  of  calling  upon  her.  They  came  swaggering  in, 
asked  whether  a  certain  German  girl  had  attended  the 
school  and  demanded  her  portrait.  On  being  refused, 
they  became  nasty  and  finally  so  overawed  the  two 


238  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

women  who  were  there  alone  that  they  found  some 
snap  shots  and  handed  over  a  couple  of  them.  Then 
they  demanded  a  post  card  with  a  picture  of  the 
school,  wrote  a  message  to  the  girl,  and  tried  to  compel 
the  two  women  to  sign  it.  They  flatly  refused,  and,  in 
a  rage,  the  elder  German  tore  up  the  card,  threw  it  at 

Miss  T ,  flung  down  the  photographs  and  stamped 

out  of  the  house,  slamming  the  doors. 

The  Minister  is  going  over  to  see  the  military  author- 
ities in  the  morning  and  make  some  remarks  that  they 
will  not  forget  in  a  hurry.  The  puppies  ought  to  be 
horsewhipped. 

September  18th. — ^Repressive  measures  are  getting 
stronger  and  more  severe.  The  Germans  have  now 
ordered  the  Belgians  to  take  down  their  flags.  Lutt- 
witz,  the  Military  Governor,  has  posted  an  Avis  on 
the  subject  which  is  worth  reproducing  in  full. 

The  population  of  Brussels,  understanding  well  its  own  interests, 
has  generally,  since  the  arrival  of  the  German  troops,  maintained 
order  and  quiet.  For  this  reason,  I  have  not  yet  forbidden  the 
display  of  Belgian  flags,  which  is  regarded  as  a  provocation  by 
the  German  troops  living  in  or  passing  through  Brussels.  Purely 
in  order  to  avoid  having  our  troops  led  to  acting  on  their  own 
initiative,  I  now  call  upon  houseowners  to  take  down  their 
Belgian  flags. 

The  ^lilitary  Government,  in  putting  this  measure  into  effect, 
has  not  the  slightest  intention  of  wounding  the  susceptibilities 
and  dignity  of  the  citizens.     It  is  intended  solely  to  protect  the 
citizens  against  harm. 
Brussels,  September  16,  1914.  Baron  von  Luttwitz. 

General  and  Governor. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  239 

Dined  at  the  Palace  in  a  din  of  German  ofBcers. 
BuUe,  Pousette  and  Riseis  kept  me  in  countenance. 
There  were  also  some  twenty  or  thirty  Austrian 
officers — the  first  we  have  seen.  They  were  quiet 
and  well  behaved,  and  contrasted  sharply  with  their 
aUies. 

Brussels,  September  19,  19H, — ^This  morning  our 
Vice-Consul  came  in  from  Ghent  bringing  with  him 
a  pouch  and  a  huge  bag  of  letters  and  telegrams.  These 
had  been  got  through  to  him  from  Antwerp  yester- 
day, and  he  made  a  run  through  the  lines  early  this 
morning,  having  been  turned  back  several  times  on 
account  of  small  engagements  between  Belgian  and 
German  outposts. 

This  morning  a  Dutchman  came  In  to  see  me,  and 
after  showing  me  a  lot  of  papers,  to  establish  that  he 
was  somebody  entirely  different,  told  me  that  he  was 
a  British  spy.  He  then  launched  into  a  long  yarn 
about  his  travels  through  the  country  and  the  things 
he  had  seen,  unloading  on  me  a  lot  of  military  infor- 
mation or  misinformation  that  he  seemed  anxious  to 
have  me  understand.  After  he  had  run  dowTi  I  asked 
why  he  had  honoured  me  with  his  confidence,  and  was 
somewhat  startled  to  have  him  answer  that  he  had  no 
way  of  getting  it  out  and  thought  that  inasmuch  as 
we  were  charged  with  the  protection  of  British  interests 
I  might  have  an  opportunity  to  pass  it  on  where  it 
would  do  the  most  good.  He  seemed  rather  pained 
at  my  remarks,  and  was  most  reproachful  when  I  threw 
him  out  on  his  head.  Yes,  my  shrewd  friend,  it  has 
also  occurred  to  me  that  he  may  have  been  a  German 


240  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

spy  just  trying  to  find  out  whether  we  were  indulging 
in  dirty  work.  It  would  not  be  the  first  time  that  that 
sort  of  thing  was  tried  on  us. 

Monseigneur  N came  around  this  afternoon  and 

asked  me  to  take  him  to  Antwerp  on  my  next  trip. 
I  told  him  that  I  could  not,  as  I  had  already  promised 
to  take  some  other  people,  and  that  my  car  would  be 
full.  He  said  that  he  had  his  own  car,  and  that  he 
would  ask  me  to  convoy  him;  he  had  heard  that  I 
had  ''beaucoup  de  bravourr,  tandis  que  moi  je  rCai  pas 
de  bravourrrr  et  faimarais  me  mettre  sous  voire  protection. ^^ 
I  sent  him  to  see  von  der  Lancken,  and  he  came  back 
in  a  little  while  to  say  that  he  was  told  that  the  only 
safe  way  was  to  go  by  Namur,  Liege  and  Holland, 
entering  Antwerp  from  the  north.  He  evidently  in- 
sisted on  a  perfectly  safe  route,  that  could  be  guar- 
anteed, and  they  told  him  a  story  that  they  thought 
would  dissuade  him  from  making  the  trip.  They  do 
not  like  to  have  a  lot  of  people  coming  and  going. 

We  have  no  more  news  from  the  outside  world;  the 
battle  still  rages  all  along  the  line  in  France  (according 
to  what  we  hear),  but  we  have  no  inkling  as  to  whether 
the  German  retreat  still  continues.  The  only  thing  we 
are  told  at  headquarters  is  that  the  outcome  is  as  yet 
undecided,  but  that  the  Germans  are  in  a  favourable 
position,  and  that  they  will  be  victorious  in  a  few  days. 
I  would  give  a  good  deal  for  a  Uttle  real  news  as  to  how 
things  are  going. 

This  morning  Major  Langhorne,  our  Military  At- 
tache from  Berlin,  breezed  in  upon  us.  He  is  travel- 
ling around  with  six  other  Military  Attaches,  seeing  as 
much  of  the  field  of  operations  as  the  German  officer 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  241 

who  personally  conducts  them  will  permit.  They  got 
in  this  morning,  and  left  about  one,  so  we  had  only  a 
few  minutes'  visit,  and  he  carried  off  all  our  good  wishes 
and  New  York  papers. 

The  German  affiche  of  yesterday,  ordering  the  Bel- 
gian flags  taken  down,  has  made  everybody  furious, 
and  for  a  time  we  thought  there  might  be  trouble.  If 
the  flags  had  been  ordered  down  the  day  the  Germans 
came  in  there  would  not  have  been  half  as  much  resent- 
ment, but,  on  the  contrary,  they  began  by  proclaim- 
ing that  the  patriotic  feelings  of  the  people  would  be 
scrupulously  respected.  Max,  the  Burgomaster,  got 
out  a  little  proclamation  of  his  own  which  served  to 
soothe  the  feelings  of  the  people.  After  expressing  some 
views  as  to  the  German  order,  he  says: 

I  ask  the  population  of  the  town  to  give  a  fresh  example  of 
seK-restraint  and  greatness  of  soul  which  it  has  already  so  often 
shown  during  these  sad  days. 

Let  us  provisionally  accept  the  sacrifice  which  is  imposed  upon 
us;  let  us  take  down  our  flags  in  order  to  avoid  conflicts,  and 
patiently  await  the  hour  of  redress. 

Soon  flags  were  coming  down  all  over  the  city,  and 
there  was  not  a  murmur.  An  hour  after  Max's  procla- 
mation was  posted,  however,  German  soldiers  were 
running  about  covering  them  with  sheets  of  white 
paper.  The  Mihtary  authorities  were  furious,  because 
Max  had  intimated  in  his  poster  that  the  present  situa- 
tion would  not  endure  forever,  and  that  the  Belgian 
flag  would  fly  again  over  Brussels.  In  their  unimagi- 
native way  they  sent  down  a  squad  of  soldiers  and 
arrested  him.  He  was  taken  to  headquarters,  and 
brought  before  von  Luttwitz,    who  told  him  that  he 


242  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

was  to  be  taken  as  a  prisoner  of  war  to  Berlin.  Max 
replied  that  he  bowed  before  superior  force;  that  he 
had  done  what  he  knew  to  be  necessary  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  order  in  his  city,  and  that  he  was  ready  to 
accept  the  consequences  of  his  act;  that  at  any  rate  he 
would  have  the  satisfaction  of  having  maintained  order 
here  up  to  the  minute  that  he  was  sent  to  Germany, 
and  that  he  could  not  be  held  responsible  for  what 
might  happen  after  his  departure.  General  von  Liitt- 
witz  sat  up  and  took  notice  of  the  last  part  of  this  and 
rushed  off  to  see  von  der  Goltz.  In  ten  minutes  he 
came  back  and  told  Max  that  he  was  free  and  that  the 
Field  Marshal  desired  that  he  should  continue  to  act 
as  Burgomaster  as  though  nothing  had  happened. 
Why  don't  people  have  a  httle  imagination!! 

The  town  is  still  bottled  up,  and  troops  are  being 
marched  back  and  forth  across  it,  as,  I  believe,  purely 
for  the  purpose  of  impressing  the  population  with  the 
behef  that  they  are  far  more  numerous  than  they  really 
are.  Late  this  afternoon  I  took  a  drive  to  the  edge  of 
town,  and  we  were  stopped  haK  a  dozen  times  and  had 
our  papers  examined.  From  all  I  can  gather  it  would 
seem  that  the  Germans  are  entrenching  themselves  as 
sohdly  as  they  can  so  as  to  be  ready  to  resist  another 
sortie  without  sustaining  the  terrible  losses  they  suf- 
fered last  time.  They  cannot  be  very  happy  over  the 
way  things  have  been  going  in  France,  although  they 
have  this  afternoon  announced  a  great  victory  on  their 
right  wing. 

One  of  our  friends  who  has  just  come  back  from  the 
coast  reports  that  there  were  a  lot  of  French  troops 
marching  through  Belgium  on  their  way  from  Dun- 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  243 

kerque  to  Lille — evidently  an  attempt  to  turn  the 
German  right  wing.  We  have  heard  nothing  more 
about  it. 

The  food  supply  of  the  country  is  being  rapidly  ex- 
hausted and  there  is  urgent  need  for  importations. 
The  public  knows  little  about  the  situation,  but  a 
serious  shortage  threatens  and  we  must  have  a  con- 
siderable stock  from  abroad.  The  Brussels  committee 
has  raised  a  goodly  sum  of  money  and  hopes  to  get 
food  from  Holland  and  England  to  meet  present  needs. 
Similar  committees  are  being  formed  in  other  cities, 
and  they,  too,  will  require  food  from  abroad.  The  local 
committee  has  asked  Shaler  to  go  to  Holland  and  from 
there  to  England  to  purchase  as  much  food  as  possi- 
ble, make  arrangements  for  sending  it  across  the  frontier 
and  investigate  the  chances  of  getting  future  supplies. 
The  German  authorities  have  given  assurances  that 
they  will  not  requisition  any  of  the  supphes  imported 
for  the  use  of  the  civil  population.  They  are  to  issue 
placards  signed  by  the  Mihtary  Governor  ordering 
the  mihtary  authorities  to  respect  our  purchases. 
These  placards  are  to  be  aflfixed  to  the  cars  and  barges 
bringing  in  the  supplies  and  we  are  inclined  to  beheve 
that  they  will  be  effective. 

After  hurried  preparation  Shaler  got  away  this  after- 
noon with  young  Couchman  by  way  of  Liege.  I  went 
out  to  lunch  with  him  and  see  him  off.  It  is  not  an  easy 
task  he  has  ahead,  but  he  went  to  it  with  a  good  heart. 

Yesterday  evening  the  Minister  had  an  interview 
with  Baron  von  der  Lancken  about  the  question  of  my 
making  a  statement  as  to  what  I  saw  at  Lou  vain.     I 


244  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

naturally  am  very  reluctant  to  be  brought  into  the 
affair,  but  the  Germans  have  been  very  insistent,  and 
finally  von  der  Lancken  said  that  he  was  confident  that 
if  he  could  talk  with  me  for  a  few  minutes  he  could 
arrange  the  matter  to  the  satisfaction  of  everybody. 
He  asked  that  I  go  to  see  him  at  the  Ministry  at  half 
past  six.  I  hurried  home  and  dressed  for  dinner,  so  as 
to  be  able  to  go  straight  to  Mrs.  Z.'s,  and  then  run 
over  to  the  Ministry  on  the  minute.  The  office  of  von 
der  Lancken  was  dark  and  empty.  I  waited  in  the 
chilly  corridors  for  twenty  minutes  and  then  went  my 
way. 

This  morning  one  of  his  minions  was  here  on  another 
matter  and  I  took  occasion  to  mention  the  fact  that 
he  had  not  been  there  when  I  called.  He  came  right 
back  with  the  statement  that  they  had  come  back  from 
the  field  particularly  early,  on  my  account,  and  had 
waited  for  me  in  vain  for  nearly  an  hour.  I  assured 
them  that  I  had  been  there  on  the  minute  and  had 
been  in  the  office,  and  that  there  was  no  one  there. 
Mystery !  By  way  of  clinching  it  I  said  that  the  office 
was  dark  as  the  tomb.  Then  a  ray  of  hght  struck  the 
German,  and  he  said:  "Oh,  I  see,  you  came  at  haK  past 
six,  Belgian  time!  Of  course  von  der  Lancken  ex- 
pected you  at  half  past  six,  German  time!!!"  When 
he  asked  me  when  I  would  call  I  felt  inclined  to  set 
eleven  in  the  morning  and  then  wander  over  at  three 
in  the  afternoon,  with  the  statement  that,  of  course,  I 
did  everything  according  to  New  York  time. 

I  had  an  hour's  talk  with  von  der  Lancken  about 
noon,  and  finally  got  off  without  testifying,  which  is 
a  great  comfort  to  me.    He  knew  from  their  own  troops 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  245 

that  I  had  been  in  Louvain  during  the  fighting,  and 
had  aheady  reported  that  to  Berlin.  I  finally  prevailed 
upon  him  to  let  it  go  at  that. 

After  we  had  settled  our  business,  von  der  Lancken 
talked  to  me  for  half  an  hour  or  so  about  the  war  in 
general.  He  said  they  had  just  received  a  telegram 
that  Reims  is  in  flames,  cathedral  and  all.  It  is  a 
terrible  thing  to  think  of,  and  I  suppose  may  turn 
out  to  be  another  Louvain  before  we  get  through. 
Von  der  Lancken  explained  it  on  the  ground  that 
French  troops  had  come  up  and  occupied  the  towTi, 
and  that  it  was  necessary  to  take  it  by  storm — that 
troops  could  never  operate  against  a  position  of  that 
sort  until  artillery  had  cleared  the  way.  I  don't  know 
just  how  far  that  sort  of  an  explanation  explains. 

The  Germans  got  out  an  affiche  of  news  this  morn- 
ing, stating  that  ''les  troupes  Allemands  ont  fait  des 
pr ogres  sur  certains  points J^  It  does  not  sound  very 
enthusiastic. 

People  coming  in  from  Mons  and  Charleroi  yesterday 
and  to-day  say  that  the  German  rear  guard  has  fallen 
back  on  villages  near  those  places  and  ordered  the 
inhabitants  to  leave;  the  idea  evidently  being  that 
they  are  preparing  to  resist  any  further  advance  of 
the  allies. 

After  lunch.  Baron  de  Menten  de  Home  was  brought 
into  the  Legation  again.  The  Germans  seem  anxious 
to  get  rid  of  him,  and  have  finally  turned  him  loose. 
I  cannot  very  well  make  out  their  object  in  setting 
him  free  without  getting  a  German  ofiicer  in  exchange, 
but  they  were  keen  to  get  him  off  their  hands  and 
wanted  us  to  take  cognisance  of  the  fact  that  they  had 


246  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

accorded  him  his  hberty.  This  we  have  done.  I  shall 
be  curious  to  see  whether  there  is  any  sequel  to  this 
case. 

Late  this  afternoon  we  got  a  telegram  from  the 
Consul  at  Liege,  stating  that  Shaler  and  Couchman 
had  been  arrested  in  that  city  because  they  were 
carrying  private  letters  to  be  posted  when  they  got 
to  England.  They  had  taken  a  certain  number  of 
letters,  all  of  them  open  and  containing  nothing  but 
information  as  to  the  w^elfare  of  individuals  here. 
They  were  on  a  mission  of  interest  to  the  German 
authorities — ^getting  foodstuffs  to  prevent  a  famine 
here.  The  Minister  got  off  an  urgent  telegram  to 
the  Consul  to  get  to  work  and  have  them  released, 
and  also  saw  von  der  Lancken  about  it,  with  the  result 
that  the  wires  are  hot.  I  hope  to  hear  to-night  that 
they  are  free.  These  are  parlous  times  to  be  travelling 
with  correspondence. 

I  may  have  to  get  aw^ay  any  minute  for  Antwerp, 
to  see  if  we  cannot  arrange  to  get  flour  down  here  for 
the  city.  There  is  enough  for  only  a  few  days  now, 
and  there  will  be  trouble  when  the  bread  gives  out. 

We  have  now  been  charged  with  Japanese  interests; 
that  makes  six  Legations  we  have  to  look  after. 

Wednesday, — ^Late  yesterday  afternoon  I  got  a  note 

from  Princess  P de  B ,  asking  me  to  go  to 

see  her.  I  got  away  from  my  toil  and  troubles  at 
seven,  and  went  up  to  find  out  what  was  the  matter. 
The  old  lady  was  in  a  terrible  state.     A  member  of 

her  immediate  family  married  the  Duke  of  ,  a 

German  who  has  always  lived  here  a  great  deal.     At 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  247 

the  beginning  of  the  war,  things  got  so  hot  for  any 
one  with  any  German  taint  that  they  cleared  out. 
For  the  last  few  days,  German  officers  have  been 
coming  to  the  house  in  uniform  asking  to  see  the 
Princess.  The  servants  have  stood  them  off  with  the 
statement  that  she  was  out,  but  she  cannot  keep  that 
up  indefinitely.  They  are  imdoubtedly  anxious  to 
see  her,  in  order  to  give  her  some  messages  from  the 

's,  some  of  her  other  relatives  in  Germany;  but 

if  it  gets  around  town  that  she  is  receiving  officers  in 
uniform  the  town  will  be  up  in  arms,  and  the  lady's 
fife  would  be  made  miserable  whenever  the  Germans 
do  get  out.  She  wanted  me  to  start  right  away  for 
Antwerp  and  take  her  along,  so  that  she  could  send 
her  intendant  around  afterward  to  say  that  she  was 
away  on  a  journey,  and  could  not  see  the  officers 
who  had  been  sent  to  see  her.  I  laboured  with  her, 
and  convinced  her  that  the  best  thing  was  to  be  abso- 
lutely frank.  She  is  going  to  send  her  intendant 
around  to  see  von  der  Lancken,  and  explain  to  him 
frankly  the  embarrassment  to  which  she  would  be 
subjected  by  having  to  receive  officers  at  her  home. 
I  am  sure  that  Lancken  will  realise  the  difficult  situa- 
tion the  old  lady  is  in,  and  will  find  some  way  of 
calling  his  people  off. 

Went  down  to  the  Palace  and  had  dinner  with 
Pousette  and  Bulle  and  Cavalcanti,  who  were  full  of 
such  news  as  there  is  floating  around  the  town.  There 
is  a  growing  impression  that  the  Germans  do  intend 
to  invest  Antwerp,  and  the  Belgians  are  apparently 
getting  ready  for  that  contingency — ^by  inundating 
a  lot  more  of  the  country  outside  the  ring  of  forts. 


248  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

At  noon,  day  before  yesterday,  I  found  a  man  with 
a  copy  of  the  London  Times,  and  carried  it  in  my  over- 
coat pocket  to  the  Palace  Hotel  when  I  went  there  to 
lunch.  Last  night,  a  lot  of  German  civil  officials  were 
sitting  at  a  table  near  by  and  holding  forth  in  loud 
tones  on  the  punishment  that  should  be  meted  out 
to  people  who  had  forbidden  newspapers  in  their 
possession.  The  most  vehement  one  of  the  lot  ex- 
pressed great  indignation  that  the  Amerikanischer 
Legationsrath  had  been  seen  in  that  very  restaurant 
the  day  before  with  an  English  newspaper  in  his  over- 
coat pocket.     Pretty  good  spy  you  have,  Fritz. 

A  telegram  has  just  been  received  from  Liege,  saying 
that  Shaler  and  Couchman  have  been  released  and  are 
on  their  way  to  Holland.  A  Dutch  messenger  was  in 
after  lunch,  and  told  me  that  he  had  seen  the  two 
men  at  headquarters  yesterday  afternoon,  and  that 
they  were  far  from  happy.  He  said  he  did  not  blame 
them,  as  the  Germans  are  dealing  out  summary  justice 
to  anybody  who  falls  into  their  hands  that  they  do 
not  take  a  fancy  to. 

A.  B.  has  been  after  me  for  a  couple  of  days  to  take 
her  up  to  the  chateau  near  Lou  vain,  where  Countess  R. 
is  left  alone  with  twenty-eight  German  officers  quar- 
tered on  her.  A  man  cousin  was  sent  up  to  defend 
her,  but  was  so  badly  frightened  that  he  spent  all  his 
time  in  the  cellar  and  finally  ran  away  and  came 
back  to  Brussels.  Now  she  wants  to  go  up  to  the 
rescue,  and  stay  there.  I  have  asked  von  der  Lancken 
for  a  pass,  and  shall  try  to  take  her  up  to-morrow. 
She  certainly  has  good  nerve,  but  I  am  not  sure  how 
much  protection  she  would  be  able  to  aflford. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  249 

The  supply  of  flour  is  getting  pretty  well  used  up,  and 
I  may  have  to  clear  out  to-morrow  afternoon  or  the 
next  day  to  go  to  Antwerp  and  negotiate  to  have  some 
supplies  sent  down  for  the  relief  of  the  civil  population. 
The  Government  has  volunteered  to  do  this,  if  the 
Germans  would  promise  that  the  food  would  not  be 
requisitioned  for  the  troops.  We  have  been  given 
these  assurances,  and  it  only  remains  for  me  to  go  up 
and  complete  the  arrangements. 

When  the  Minister  came  back  from  Louvain  he  went 
over  to  headquarters  and  talked  about  the  subject  of 
my  trip  to  Antwerp.  He  has  been  nervous  about  each 
of  my  trips  and  has  worried  a  lot  more  about  it  than  I 
have,  but  when  he  saw  von  der  Lancken,  that  worthy 
made  things  worse  by  saying  that  there  was  artillery 
ready  to  begin  business  in  every  part  of  the  country  I 
was  to  traverse  and  that  it  would  be  a  very  dangerous 
trip.  Now,  the  Minister  is  making  superhuman  efforts 
to  find  some  other  way  to  get  the  letters  and  papers 
through  to  Antwerp. 

A  note  has  just  come  in  from  Princess  P.  de  Z , 

to  say  that  she  followed  my  advice,  and  that  everything 
has  been  settled  with  the  German  authorities  to  her 
complete  satisfaction.     She  is  now  easy  in  her  mind. 

September  25th. — ^I  spent  all  day  yesterday  sitting  on 
the  edge  of  my  chair  waiting  for  a  decision  about  my 
leaving  for  Antwerp,  and  by  dark  I  was  a  fit  candidate 
for  an  asylum.  At  five  o'clock  the  Minister  went 
around  to  see  von  der  Lancken  to  get  the  laisser-passer. 
It  was  then  suggested  that  a  letter  could  be  .sent  around 
by  way  of  Berlin  and  The  Hague.  It  would  take 
a  week  or  ten  days  to  get  an  answer  that  way.    Then 


250  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

we  argued  the  matter  out  again  from  the  beginning, 
and  after  a  quarter  of  an  hour  of  joint  debate  I  went 
over  to  see  von  der  Lancken  and  press  for  the  laisser- 
passer.  He  was  in  a  conseil  de  guerre,  but  I  had  him 
pulled  out  and  put  it  up  to  him.  He  said  it  was  then 
too  late  to  get  anything  last  night,  but  that  he  would 
attend  to  it  to-day.  I  am  now  sitting  on  the  same  old 
edge  of  my  chair  waiting  for  action,  so  that  I  can  get 
away.  I  think  that  the  trip  by  Namur,  Liege  and 
Maestricht,  which  is  the  route  prescribed,  is  a  lot 
safer  than  the  other  two  trips  I  have  made  to  Antwerp, 
which  really  were  risky  performances.  Most  of  this 
trip  will  be  in  peaceful  Holland  and  I  do  not  contem- 
plate any  sort  of  trouble  along  the  way. 

By  way  of  being  ready  I  got  passes  from  the  Dutch 
Legation  and  the  Burgomaster  yesterday  afternoon, 
and  now  all  I  have  to  do  is  take  the  German  Passier- 
schein  in  my  hand  and  start. 

Yesterday  evening  I  dined  at  the  M.'s.  Just  the 
two  of  them  and  their  daughter,  who  is  married  to  a 
French  officer.  As  is  the  case  everywhere  else,  they 
talk  nothing  but  war,  and  are  most  rabid.  They  have 
a  daughter  in  Germany,  but  she  does  not  seem  to  enter 
into  their  calculations,  and  all  their  thoughts  are  for 
France  and  Belgium.  Their  son,  who  is  in  the  Belgian 
cavalry,  has  just  got  his  corporal's  stripes  for  gallantry 
in  action.  The  old  gentleman  is  bursting  with  pride. 
During  the  evening  another  old  chap  came  in  with  a 
letter  from  his  son,  who  is  in  young  M.'s  regiment; 
he  had  some  very  nice  things  to  say  about  the  young 
man's  behaviour,  and  there  was  a  great  popular 
rejoicing. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  251 

The  London  Times  came  in  during  the  evening,  and 
there  was  a  great  revamping  of  war  maps  to  correspond 
with  the  latest  movement  of  troops.  The  daughter 
keeps  the  maps  up  to  date,  and  does  it  very  well,  having 
picked  up  some  training  from  her  husband.  She  has 
different  coloured  lines  for  each  day's  progress  and  it  is 
easy  to  see  at  a  glance  just  how  the  positions  compare 
for  any  given  times. 

This  morning  the  Germans  have  big  placards  up  all 
over  town,  trying  to  explain  their  action  in  burning 
Reims  Cathedral.  They  are  doing  a  lot  of  explain- 
ing these  days. 

Brussels,  September  26, 19H. — ^My  departure  for  Ant- 
werp has  been  put  off  again  and  again,  but  if  the  Ger- 
man authorities  live  up  to  their  promises,  I  shall  be  able 
to  start  to-morrow  morning  early.  At  the  last  minute 
the  mothers  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wliitlock  decided  to 
avail  of  the  opportunity  to  go  home,  so  I  shall  take 
them  as  far  as  Rotterdam  before  going  to  Antwerp.  I 
shall  attend  to  my  business  there  and  then  go  back  to 
Rotterdam,  take  the  ladies  over  to  England,  turn  them 

over  to  Mr.  N ,  spend  a  day  or  two  there  getting 

a  line  on  the  news,  and  then  rush  back  to  Antwerp, 
and  then  back  to  Brussels.  I  suppose  I  shall  be  away 
ten  days  or  so,  but  there  is  no  w^ay  of  telling.  I  should 
like  the  little  trip  to  England  and  a  breath  of  air  in  a 
country  where  there  is  no  actual  fighting. 

It  is  now  half  past  eight  and  there  is  no  telling  when 
this  family  will  sit  down  to  dine.  The  Burgomaster 
has  indulged  in  some  more  repartee  with  the  German 
authorities,  and  they,  with  their  usual  finesse,  have  put 


252  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

him  in  prison.  Yesterday  the  Germans  got  out  a 
proclamation  announcing  that  since  the  city  of  Brus- 
sels had  not  settled  *' voluntarily,"  the  whole  of  the 
forced  loan  imposed  upon  her  no  more  requisitions 
should  be  paid  in  cash,  as  had  been  promised.*  Max 
thereupon  sat  down  and  wrote  a  letter  to  the  banks, 
saying  that  they  were  to  pay  nothing  on  the  forced 
loan  unless  and  until  the  Germans  conformed  to  their 
part  of  the  agreement.  He  further  annoyed  the  Ger- 
mans by  putting  up  an  affiche,  giving  the  lie  to  a  procla- 
mation of  the  Governor  of  Liege: 

The  German  Governor  of  the  town  of  Liege,  Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral  von  Kolewe,  caused  the  following  notice  to  be  posted 
yesterday: 

"To  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Liege. 

"The  Burgomaster  of  Brussels  has  informed  the  German  Com- 
mander that  the  French  Government  has  declared  to  the  Belgian 
Government  the  impossibility  of  giving  them  any  offensive  assist- 
ance whatever,  as  they  themselves  are  forced  to  adopt  the 
defensive." 

/  absolutely  deny  this  assertion. 

Adolphe  Max, 

Burgomaster. 

Luttwitz  replied  to  this  by  having  Max  arrested, 
and  the  present  prospect  is  that  he  is  to  be  sent  to 
Germany  as  a  prisoner  of  war.    That  is  not  very  com- 

*The  German  point  of  view  was  set  forth  in  the  following  oflBcial  notice: 

"The  German  Government  had  ordered  the  cash  payment  of  requisition,  naturally  believing 
that  the  city  would  voluntarily  pay  the  whole  of  the  forced  payment  {contribution  de  guerre) 
imposed  upon  it. 

"It  was  only  this  condition  that  could  justify  the  favoured  treatment  enjoyed  by  Brussels, 
as  distinguished  from  the  other  cities  of  Belgium  which  will  not  have  their  requisition  orders 
settled  until  after  the  conclusion  of  peace. 

"Inasmuch  as  the  city  administration  of  Brussels  refuses  to  settle  the  remainder  of  the 
forced  payment,  from  this  day  forward  no  requisition  will  be  settled  in  cash  by  the  Govern- 
ment treasury. 

"The  Military  Governor, 

Brusseb,  September  24,  1914.  Baron  von  Luttwitz, 

Major-General" 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  253 

forting  for  us,  as  he  has  been  a  very  calming  influence, 
and  has  kept  the  population  of  Brussels  well  in  hand. 
If  they  do  send  him  away,  the  Germans  will  do  a  very 
stupid  thing  from  their  o\vn  point  of  view,  and  will 
make  Max  a  popular  hero  everywhere. 

Early  this  evening  Monsieur  Lemonnier,  the  Senior 
Alderman,  came  aroimd  with  several  of  his  colleagues, 
and  laid  the  matter  before  Mr.  Whitlock  and  the 
Spanish  Minister.  They  immediately  went  over  to 
see  General  von  Liittwitz  to  see  whether  there  was 
anything  to  be  done  for  Max,  but  as  they  have  been 
gone  a  long  time,  I  fear  they  are  going  through  one 
of  those  long  and  thoroughly  unsatisfactory  discussions 
that  get  nowhere. 

Monsieur  Lemonnier  is  waiting  in  my  office  to  hear 
the  result  of  the  visit  to  Luttwitz.  He  is  naturally 
far  from  cheerful,  and  looks  forward  with  a  good  deal 
of  dread  to  taking  over  the  reins  if  Max  is  sent  to 
Germany.  He,  of  course,  foresees  that  the  chances 
are  in  favour  of  his  following  Max  into  exile  sooner 
or  later,  if  he  tries  to  do  his  duty.  As  to  his  own  future 
he  says  only — 'T  succeed  only  to  the  troubles  of  the 
office — Max  a  Men  emporte  sa  gloire  avec  lui,'^  The  life 
of  a  Belgian  official  these  days  is  anything  but  com- 
fortable. 

Sunday  Morning. — ^We  were  all  up  working  until 
two  o'clock  this  morning.  Monsieur  Max  was  spirited 
away  to  Namur,  an^  everybody  is  standing  by  for 
trouble.  The  people  are  greatly  excited  and  highly 
resentful,  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  they  will  not  do 
anything   rash.      The   cooler   spirits   are   going   about 


254  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

urging  calm.  The  excitement  is  not  lessened  by  the 
fact  that  there  is  heavy  cannonading  from  the  direction 
of  Antwerp. 

Liittwitz  has  announced  the  arrest  of  Max  in  the 
following  poster: 

NOTICE. 

Burgomaster  Max  having  failed  to  fulfil  the  engagements 
entered  into  with  the  German  Government,  I  am  forced  to  sus- 
pend him  from  his  position. 

Monsieur  Max  will  be  held  in  honourable  detention  in  a  fortress. 

The  Military  Governor, 
Baron  von  Lijttwitz, 
General. 
Brussels,  September  26,  1914. 

We  are  evidently  not  yet  through  the  epoch  of 
destruction,  for  the  Governor-General  came  out  to-day 
with  this  Proclamation,  which  is  posted  on  the  walls 
of  various  towns: 

Recently,  in  regions  not  occupied  by  strong  forces  of  German 
troops,  convoys  of  transport  wagons  and  patrols  have  been 
attacked  without  warning  by  the  inhabitants. 

1  draw  the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  fact  that  a  list  is  kept 
of  the  towns  and  communes  in  the  vicinity  of  which  these  attacks 
have  been  committed,  and  that  they  must  expect  their  punish- 
ment as  soon  as  German  troops  pass  near  them. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  of  any  places  where 
such  attacks  have  taken  place,  but  suppose  this  is 
merely  an  evidence  of  the  well-known  nervousness  of 
the  army  of  occupation,  and  that  they  are  trying  to 
frighten  the  people  to  a  point  where  they  will  not 
try  to  start  anything. 


Fire  at  Namur  during  the  bombardment 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  255 

General  von  Luttwitz  has  come  out  with  another 
Proclamation,  forbidding  the  sale  of  foreign  news- 
papers in  Belgium: 

I  remind  the  population  of  Brussels  and  its  suburbs  that  it  is 
strictly  forbidden  to  sell  or  distribute  newspapers  that  are  not 
expressly  authorised  by  the  German  Military  Government.  Any 
infraction  of  this  prohibition  will  entail  the  immediate  arrest 
of  the  vendors,  as  well  as  long  periods  of  imprisonment. 

The  German  Military  Governor, 
Baron  von  Litttwitz, 
General. 

My  laisser-passer  has  not  come,  and  there  is  no 
telling  when  we  shall  get  away.  The  Germans  swear 
it  was  sent  last  night. 

On  board  S.  S.  "Oranje  Nassau,''  off  Flushing,  Sept. 
30,  1914' — ^We  got  away  on  Sunday  morning  about 
eleven  o'clock,  after  many  calls  at  headquarters  and  a 
mild  row  about  the  laisser-passer  that  had  not  been  sent. 
It  was  finally  discovered  that  some  boneheaded  clerk 
had  sent  it  by  mail — a  matter  of  three  days!  It  was 
fished  out  of  the  military  post  office,  and  we  got  away 
in  a  few  minutes. 

We  were  in  the  big  car,  heavily  laden — ^two  trunks, 
several  valises  and  a  mail  pouch  on  top — my  two 
passengers  inside  with  their  small  stuff,  the  chauffeur 
and  I  in  front. 

We  made  quick  time  out  through  Tervueren  and 
down  to  Namur,  hearing  the  heavy  booming  of  cannon 
all  the  time  away  to  the  north.  Ruin  was  all  the  way — 
odd  farm-houses  burned,  towns  with  half  the  buildings 
in  them,  the  Grand  Place  destroyed,  etc.  The  great 
square  at  Namur  a  heap  of  brick  and  mortar. 


Q56  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

The  great  bridge  across  the  Meuse  was  dynamited,  and 
the  three  sections  hung  in  the  river.  All  the  way  to  Liege 
the  main  bridges  had  been  destroyed,  and  we  had  to  cross 
on  temporary  affairs  constructed  by  the  Germans. 

And  the  Germans  were  thick  all  the  way,  holding 
us  up  at  frequent  intervals  to  look  at  our  papers. 
They  have  it  in  for  Belgium,  and  are  in  bad  humour. 
We  had  some  fine  samples  of  it  during  the  day. 

We  stopped  not  far  from  Huy  for  a  picnic  lunch, 
and  then  got  under  way  again,  being  stopped  frequently 
all  the  way  to  Liege,  where  we  sought  out  the  Consulate. 
The  Consul  had  gone  to  Spa  to  look  after  some  Enghsh 
people,  but  I  said  my  few  words  to  his  wife  and 
daughter,  and  then  hurried  away  toward  Vise  and  the 
Dutch  frontier. 

Vise  n'existe  plus!  Goodness  knows  what  was  done 
to  the  place,  but  there  is  nothing  left  but  blackened 
walls.  It  took  us  a  long  time  to  find  unencumbered 
roads  and  get  through  between  the  fallen  walls.  Not 
far  from  the  edge  of  town  we  found  the  last  German 
outpost,  and  were  promptly  put  under  arrest  because 
my  laisser-passer  did  not  bear  my  photograph.  The 
officer  in  command  cursed  me  roundly  for  daring  to 
come  through  Liege  without  reporting,  placed  two 
armed  soldiers  in  the  car,  and  ordered  us  sent  back. 
It  was  futile  to  point  out  to  him  that  passes  issued  by 
the  Military  Governor  General  did  not  need  to  conform 
to  the  local  rules;  in  fact,  it  only  made  him  peevish. 
We  scorched  back  over  the  road  to  Liege,  but  I  suc- 
ceeded in  making  the  soldiers  stop  at  a  small  towTi 
where  there  was  a  local  headquarters  of  some  sort 
with  a  colonel  in  command.    I  got  him  to  look  at  our 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  £57 

pass  which  had  been  confiscated  by  our  guard,  and, 
after  hearing  my  case  and  thinking  heavily,  he  un- 
enthusiastically said  we  might  proceed.  We  went 
back  through  Vise  even  faster,  and  enjoyed  the  look 
of  our  heutenant  when  told  he  had  been  overruled. 
After  a  minute  or  so  he  became  very  affable  and  said 
he  had  a  brother  in  Jefferson  City,  Mo.,  and  a  nephew 
in  Sacramento,  Californien,  who  runs  an  Apoteke. 
Just  to  show  there  was  no  hard  feeling,  I  gave  him 
a  cigar,  and  a  few  minutes  later  we  crossed  the  Dutch 
frontier,  where  we  created  a  sensation.  A  big  crowd 
gathered  around  the  car,  and,  by  the  time  the  leisurely 
custom  ofiicers  had  examined  the  papers  given  me  by 
the  Dutch  Legation,  they  were  packed  so  tight 
that  it  took  the  united  effort  of  several  officers  and 
citizens  to  get  us  extricated. 

Holland  is  taking  no  chances,  and  has  quantities 
of  troops  massed  in  that  part  of  the  country.  There 
are  frequent  posts  to  stop  travellers  and  examine 
papers,  and  there  is  practically  no  traffic  on  the  road 
save  that  of  a  military  character. 

Near  Maestricht  we  ran  into  a  large  detachment 
guarding  a  bridge.  Our  papers  did  not  satisfy  the 
commanding  officer,  so  we  were  once  more  placed 
under  arrest  and  hustled  through  town  to  head- 
quarters. The  officers  there  were  very  courteous,  and, 
after  examining  my  papers,  made  out  a  laisser-passer 
for  use  in  Holland  and  sent  me  on  my  way. 

By  this  time  it  was  dark,  but  we  determined  to 
push  on  as  far  as  Roermond — 50  kilometers.  Here 
we  found  a  charming  little  hotel — the  Lion  d'Or — and 
after  a  good  supper,  got  early  to  bed. 


258  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

The  next  day  I  planned  to  take  the  two  ladies — ^who 
have  good  nerve,  and  don't  turn  a  hair  at  being 
arrested — to  Rotterdam  and  then  run  down  to  Ant- 
werp, some  280  kilometers,  a  long  run  in  war  time. 

We  were  off  at  6:30,  and  bowled  along  beautifully 
in  a  bitter  cold  wind  until  we  were  in  sight  of  Tilburg, 
where  the  engine  broke  down.  Eugene,  the  chauffeur, 
tried  everything  he  could  think  of,  and  tore  his  hair 
in  rage  and  shame.  Finally  we  got  a  soldier  on  a 
bicycle  to  go  into  Tilburg  and  get  a  motor  to  tow  us 
in.  Then  two  good  hours  in  a  garage  before  we  were 
in  shape  to  start. 

We  caught  the  boat  at  Moerdyck  and  got  into 
Rotterdam  a  little  before  four.  I  installed  my  com- 
panions at  the  Maas  Hotel,  overlooking  the  same  old 
Meuse,  and  then  started  back  through  the  rain  toward 
Antwerp.  At  Willemsdorp  we  just  missed  the  boat 
for  Moerdyck  and  lost  an  hour.  Eugene  raged  and 
smoked  many  cigarettes,  to  the  danger  of  his  health, 
because  his  sacree  machine  had  lost  us  so  much  time. 

At  eight  we  got  to  Rosendaal,  near  the  Belgian 
frontier,  and  were  forbidden  to  go  any  farther  until 
morning,  as  the  outposts  were  taking  no  chances. 

Had  a  good  supper  at  the  little  hotel,  had  my  papers 
viseed  by  the  Belgian  Consul,  and  at  6  o'clock  yesterday 
morning  was  up  and  away,  by  way  of  Putte. 

The  Belgian  outposts  received  us  with  levelled 
rifles,  but  when  we  got  near,  one  of  the  officers  recog- 
nised me  through  his  glasses,  and  we  got  through 
without  any  more  trouble.  Arrived  at  the  St.  Antoine 
as  everybody  was  coming  down  to  breakfast.  The 
Germans  were  bombarding  the  outer  forts,  and  they 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  259 

could  not  believe  their  eyes  when  I  came  in.  Not 
a  word  of  news  had  got  through  the  lines  for  some  days, 
and  I  was  nearly  torn  to  pieces  by  the  excited  friends. 

I  had  coffee  with  Colonel  Fairholme,  and  got  all  the 
news  he  could  tell  me.  Malines  has  been  bombarded 
again,  and  Antwerp  is  filled  with  refugees.  Before 
I  left,  the  Germans  had  occupied  Malines  itself  and 
were  bombarding  the  fort  at  Waelhem. 

After  breakfast  I  started  out  on  my  carefully  planned 
campaign.  First  to  the  Consulate-General  to  get  off 
some  telegrams,  etc.  Then  to  the  Foreign  Office 
with  a  lot  of  things  to  attend  to.  I  was  able  to  give 
van  der  Elst  word  that  his  son  is  in  Magdebourg — a 
prisoner,  but  not  wounded.  The  look  on  his  face 
when  he  got  the  news  paid  for  the  whole  trip.  I  saw 
M.  Davignon,  and  went  with  him  to  see  the  Prime 
Minister,  who  had  heard  I  was  there  and  had  sent 
for  me. 

On  the  way  we  saw  hundreds  of  miserable  refugees 
from  Malines  pouring  dovm  from  the  station.  The 
courage  of  these  Belgians  is  beyond  all  words.  Save 
for  the  two  in  the  freight  station  yard  at  Louvain,  I 
have  not  seen  a  woman  crying!  It  may  be  that  they 
are  numb,  but  they  have  none  of  the  stupidity  of 
numbness.  And  when  you  think  that  these  very 
women  will  be  creeping  back  to  their  homes  and  caring 
for  the  German  wounded  they  find  there,  it  gives  you 
a  fine  lump  in  the  throat. 

I  paid  a  call  at  the  French  Legation,  went  back  to 
the  Consulate-General  to  sign  my  telegrams  and  mail 
which  had  been  hammered  out,  and  then  to  lunch. 
Got  away  at  3:30  to  the  banging  of  heavy  siege  artillery 


260  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

and  invitations  to  come  back  "if  we  are  still  here."    As 

I  was  getting  into  the  car,  Prince  D plucked  me  by 

the  sleeve  and  pointed  at  the  Cathedral  tower  high 
above  us.  "Take  a  good  look,"  he  said.  "It  may  not 
be  here  when  you  come  back." 

We  made  good  time  through  the  rain,  but  missed  the 
boat  at  Moerdyck,  and  spent  an  hour  on  the  dock. 
Got  in  at  ten,  ravenously  hungry,  had  a  snack,  and 
then  to  bed. 

Up  again  at  six  and  took  the  seven-thirty  train  for 
Flushing.  It  loafed  along  through  the  country,  and 
we  did  not  sail  until  eleven.  We  have  to  go  round  to 
Folkstone,  but  hope  to  be  in  by  six  o'clock. 

There  are  not  more  than  twenty  people  on  the  ship, 
and  the  way  they  went  through  our  credentials  was  a 
caution.  I  was  glad  I  had  taken  the  precaution  to 
provide  myself  with  American,  British,  German,  Dutch 
and  Belgian  papers  for  the  trip.  There  is  another 
examination  at  Folkstone. 

On  board  the  S.S.  "Brussels,''  off  Flushing,  October  5, 
19 H, — ^To  resume. 

We  got  into  Folkstone  last  Wednesday  evening  at 
sunset,  and  got  through  to  London  by  eight-fifteen.  All 
the  latter  part  of  the  crossing  we  were  spoken  from 
time  to  time  by  British  destroyers,  which  bobbed  up 
from  nowhere  to  warn  of  floating  mines  or  give  direc- 
tions as  to  our  course.  The  entrance  to  Dover  was 
surrounded  by  destroyers,  and  looked  grim  and  war- 
like, and  what's  more,  businesslike. 

Thursday  morning  I  got  up  as  late  as  I  decently 
could  and  went  down  to  the  Embassy  to  find  Shaler 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  261 

and  Couchman  waiting  for  me.  They  had  been  in 
London  since  Monday,  but  had  not  made  much  progress 
with  their  mission  of  getting  food  for  Brussels.  This 
was  due  to  no  lack  of  energy  on  their  part,  but  to  the 
general  difficulty  of  getting  attention  for  any  matter 
at  this  time.  I  went  with  them  to  the  Belgian  Lega- 
tion, and  after  a  talk  with  the  Belgian  Minister,  we  got 
things  started. 

As  the  food  was  intended  for  the  civil  population  of 
Brussels,  it  was  necessary  to  get  the  Belgian  Minister  to 
secure  from  the  Foreign  Office  permission  to  ship  it 
through  the  blockade.  He  felt  that  he  must  have  some 
instructions  from  the  Government  at  Antwerp  for  his 
guidance  in  the  matter,  so  I  telegraphed  at  some  length, 
with  the  result  that  he  had  ample  instructions  before 
the  sun  went  down.  The  next  day  he  made  three  op 
four  calls  at  the  Foreign  Office  and  matters  were  got 
under  way. 

Shaler  is  buying  the  food  and  getting  it  ready  for 
shipment,  and  now  all  that  is  holding  things  up  is  the 
actual  permission  to  go  ahead  and*  ship.  Shaler  has 
had  some  talk  on  the  general  problems  that  confront 
us  with  Herbert  Hoover,  an  American  mining  engineer, 
who  has  given  some  very  helpful  ideas  and  may  do  more 
still. 

Shaler  and  Couchman  had  an  experience  at  Liege 
they  did  not  particularly  rehsh.  They  were  pulled  up 
by  a  Landsturm  guard  somewhere  in  Liege,  taken 
to  the  Kommandantur,  where  it  was  discovered  that 
they  were  carrying  a  number  of  messages  of  the  "We- 
are-well-and-hope-you-are-the-same"  variety.  With- 
out discussion  they  were  pushed  into  cells  and  treated 


262  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

to  talk  that  gave  them  Httle  comfort.  They  spent  the 
night  in  jail,  but  by  some  means  contrived  to  get  word 
to  the  Consul,  who  arrived  and  delivered  them  before 
breakfast.  It  evidently  grieved  the  Germans  that  they 
could  not  take  these  two  out  and  shoot  them,  but  they 
yielded  with  a  bad  grace  and  turned  them  loose  to 
hasten  to  the  Consul's  breakfast  table. 

Brussels,  October  11,  19H. — On  Saturday  afternoon 
late  I  went  with  Harold  Fowler  to  call  on  Sir  Claude 
MacDonald,  who  had  been  to  the  Embassy  twice  to 
see  me  about  the  English  Red  Cross  nurses  in  Brussels. 
I  tried  to  reassure  him  as  to  their  safety,  but  he  went 
to  see  the  Ambassador  later  in  the  day  and  asked  him 
to  send  Harold  Fowler  back  to  Brussels  with  me  to 
bring  the  nurses  out.  This  suited  me  perfectly,  so  we 
made  preparations  to  get  off  together. 

On  Sunday  evening  we  left  Fenchurch  Street  at  six, 
w^ith  a  little  group  of  friends  to  see  us  off.  About  the 
only  other  people  on  the  train  were  a  King's  Messen- 
ger, a  bankrupt  Peer  and  his  Man  Friday,  and  a  young 
staff  officer.  Each  set  of  us  had  a  separate  compart- 
ment and  travelled  in  lonely  state  to  Tilbury,  where 
the  boat  was  waiting. 

As  we  got  aboard  the  Brussels,  her  sister  ship,  the 
Dresden,  just  in  from  Antwerp,  pulled  up  alongside, 
and  Mrs.  Sherman,  wife  of  the  Vice-Consul,  called  me 
to  the  rail  to  give  me  the  latest  news.  She  said  that 
everything  was  going  to  pieces,  that  some  of  the  forts 
had  fallen,  and  that  Antwerp  might  be  under  bom- 
bardment before  we  got  there.  Then  she  went  ashore 
in  peace,  and  we  went  below  to  seek  the  seclusion  that 


-^'  ''■  ■ '  v^rr 


^';Ai.;';^v 


Copyright  by  the  Inicrnaliomd  Xcir.'i  Service 


Refugees  fleeing  toward  Dunkirk  before  the  German  advance, 
after  the  fall  of  Antwerp 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  263 

the  cabin  grants,  and  fortify  ourselves  for  the  bom- 
bardment. 

We  got  mider  way  during  the  night  and  dropped 
down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  where  we  lay  to 
until  daylight,  before  starting  across.  The  first  sound 
I  heard  was  a  hail  from  a  torpedo-boat  destroyer, 
which  sent  an  oflScer  aboard  to  lay  our  course  for  us 
through  the  British  mine  fields.  We  made  our  zigzag 
course  across  the  North  Sea  and  fetched  up  at  Flush- 
ing, where  we  picked  up  a  pilot  to  take  us  through 
Dutch  waters.  When  darkness  overtook  us  we  were 
just  about  on  the  Belgian  frontier  line  and  had  to  lie 
to  for  the  night,  getting  to  Antwerp  Tuesday  morning 
about  nine. 

We  found  the  place  in  a  great  hubbub — everybody 
packed  and  ready  to  leave.  They  had  been  on  the 
point  of  departure  since  Friday,  and  the  uncertainty 
had  got  on  everybody's  nerves — and  no  wonder. 

Several  thousand  British  Marines  had  arrived  and 
were  doing  good  work,  holding  back  the  Germans, 
while  the  exhausted  Belgians  pulled  themselves  together 
for  the  evacuation.  The  Belgian  forces  had  been 
fighting  with  httle  rest  and  no  sleep  imtil  they  were 
physically  incapable  of  further  resistance.  How  human 
strength  held  out  so  long  is  the  great  marvel.  Winston 
Churchill  was  in  the  Legation  when  I  arrived,  with 
General  Rawlinson  and  Colonel  Seeley. 

After  a  call  at  the  Foreign  Office,  most  of  which 
had  been  installed  on  a  boat  in  the  river,  I  went  to 
the  Palace  to  see  General  Jungbluth.  He  was  not 
there,  but  Countess  de  Caraman-Chimay  said  that  the 
King  wanted  to  see  me. 


264  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

I  was  taken  straight  up  to  him  in  his  Council 
Chamber,  where  I  found  him  seated  at  a  great  table 
covered  with  maps  and  papers.  He  pushed  them  aside 
wearily  as  I  came  in,  and  rose  to  greet  me.  He  talked 
at  some  length  on  the  war  and  the  ordeal  of  Belgium, 
but  was  chiefly  interested  in  how  the  people  were 
being  treated.  His  interest  was  not  only  for  his  own 
friends,  but  he  showed  particular  interest  in  learning 
how  the  poorer  people  were  being  treated — ^whether 
the  poorer  quarters  of  the  town  were  keeping  calm 
and  avoiding  trouble  with  the  Germans.  He  was 
most  anxious  that  they  should  avoid  doing  anything 
that  would  arouse  the  Germans  against  them.  He  spoke 
simply  and  touchingly  of  his  confidence  in  the  loyalty 
and  patriotism  of  all  his  people,  and  his  certainty  that 
they  would  come  through  the  war  with  an  even  greater 
love  of  country. 

The  rest  of  the  Palace  w^as  in  confusion,  with  servants 
packing  and  orderhes  coming  and  going.  But  the 
King's  room  was  in  perfect  calm.  The  King  sat  quite 
still  in  his  armchair  and  talked  quietly,  without  haste. 
He  was  very  serious,  and  it  was  clearly  to  be  seen  that 
he  felt  his  responsibility  and  the  suffering  of  his  army. 
But  his  determination  was  just  as  evident.  He  reaUsed 
that  the  evacuation  was  inevitable,  and  having  made 
up  his  mind  to  that,  he  devoted  his  whole  energies 
and  thoughts  to  seeing  that  it  was  carried  out  effectively 
and  quickly.  He  has  a  very  patent  faculty  of  con- 
centration and  of  eliminating  his  own  personality  and 
feelings.  I  have  seldom  felt  so  sorry  for  anyone, 
partly  perhaps  because  all  of  his  sympathy  was  for 
others. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  ^65 

When  the  King  finally  rose  to  dismiss  me,  he 
said: 

"The  Queen  wants  to  see  you.  Will  you  come 
back  at  half -past  two?" 

I  had  planned  to  leave  for  Brussels  immediately 
after  luncheon,  but,  of  course,  this  was  a  command 
to  which  I  gladly  yielded. 

The  St.  Antoine  was  all  hurry  and  confusion,  and 
the  dining  room  was  buzzing  with  conjecture  as  to 
whether  the  bombardment  of  the  city  would  begin 
before  the  exodus  was  accompUshed.  The  Mihtary 
Governor  had  posted  a  proclamation  to  warn  the 
population  that  it  might  begin  at  any  time.  There 
was  a  certain  amount  of  unconscious  humour  in  his 
proclamation.  He  advised  people  to  retire  into  their 
cellars  with  bedding,  food,  water  and  other  neces- 
saries; to  disconnect  the  water,  gas  and  electricity; 
to  stuff  the  staircases  with  mattresses,  as  a  matter  of 
protection;  to  take  with  them  picks  and  shovels,  so 
that  they  could  dig  themselves  out  in  case  their  houses 
fell  in;  and  after  a  few  more  hints  of  this  sort,  the 
Governor  genially  remarks: 

"Having  taken  these  precautions,  the  population 
can  await  the  bombardment  in  calm." 

The  German  authorities  have  offered  to  spare  the 
historic  monuments  of  Antwerp  in  their  bombardment, 
if  the  Belgian  General  Staff  will  send  them  maps  of 
the  city  with  such  monuments  and  hospitals  clearly 
marked.  I  found  that  it  had  been  arranged  in  Brus- 
sels that  I  should  collect  the  plans  on  my  way  through 
Antwerp  and  deliver  them  to  the  German  authorities 
in  Brussels,  and,  of  course,  agreed  to  do  so. 


266  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

After  luncheon  I  went  back  to  the  Palace,  where 
I  was  immediately  received  by  the  Queen  in  her 
sitting  room.  Her  Majesty  seemed  quite  oblivious 
of  the  confusion  in  the  Palace,  and,  hke  the  King, 
she  was  chiefly  concerned  as  to  the  weKare  of  the 
people  left  under  German  domination.  I  was  able 
to  give  her  comforting  news  as  to  the  treatment  of  the 
people  of  Brussels.  While  we  were  talking,  the  roar 
of  the  German  guns  seemed  to  increase  and  made  the 
windows  rattle.  There  was  an  outcry  in  the  street, 
and  we  went  to  the  window  to  see  a  German  aeroplane 
pursued  by  a  British  machine.  We  watched  them  out 
of  sight,  and  then  went  back  to  our  talk.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  Court  had  tried  to  prevail  upon  the  Queen 
to  leave  Antwerp,  but  when  it  became  evident  that 
the  place  must  be  surrendered,  she  refused  to  move 
and  told  me  she  would  stay  until  the  King  left.  And 
she  did. 

W^hen  I  got  back  to  the  hotel,  I  found  Eugene  with 
news  that  the  differential  of  my  car  had  broken,  so 
that  we  could  not  start.  It  was  important  that 
we  lose  no  time  in  getting  the  plans  of  the  town 
to  the  German  authorities,  so  I  got  Baron  van  der 
Elst  to  go  with  me  to  the  General  Staff  and  explain 
the  situation.  General  de  Guise  promptly  wrote  out 
an  order  that  I  should  be  given  the  best  car  to  be 
found  in  the  city.  Armed  with  this,  Eugene  set  forth 
and  gathered  in  a  very  pretty  Kttle  limousine  to  bring 
us  back  to  Brussels.  It  was  evidently  a  lady's  car  and 
almost  too  pretty,  but  we  were  not  exacting  and  took 
it  thankfully.  However,  it  was  too  late  to  start  out 
through  the  lines,  so  we  gave  up  the  idea  of  leaving 


Graves  of  civilians  shot  by  the  Germans 


PROCLAMATION 


A  I'avenir  les  locality's  situees  pres  de  rendroit  oil  a  eu  lieu  la 
destruction  des  chemins  dc  (or  el  ligues  telegraphiques  seront  punles 
sans  pili6  (il  n'importe  qu'elles  soient  coupables  ou  non  de  ces  acles.) 
Dans  cc  but  des  otages  ont  6le  pris  dans  toutos  les  localit^s  situ^s 
pros  des  chemins  de  (er  qui  sent  menaces  de  pareilles  altaques;  et  au 
premier  attentat  a  la  destruction  des  lignes  de  chemins  de  (er,  de 
lignes  t6l6graphiques  ou  lignes  tel^phoniques,  ils  seront  immediatemenl 
lusillte. 


Bruxelles,  i«  s  Odobrt  i9t« 


YON  DER  GOLTZ 


A  typical  proclamation 

Translation: 

In  future,  villages  in  the  vicinity  of  places  where  railway  and  telegraph  lines  are  des- 
troyed will  be  punished  without  pity  (whether  they  are  guilty  or  not  of  the  acts  in  ques- 
tion). With  this  in  view  hostages  have  been  taken  in  all  villages  near  the  raihva\  liu'^s 
which  are  threatened  by  such  attacks.  Upon  the  6rst  attempt  to  destroy  lines  of  rail- 
way, telegraph,  or  telephone,  they  will  be  immediately  shot. 

The  Governor, 

VON  DER  GOLTZ 


Views  of  the  Fort  of  Walilem  after  its  bombardment  by  the  big- 
German  guns 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  267 

before  morning.  We  had  thought  of  taking  the  route 
of  the  army  and  getting  to  Brussels  by  way  of  Ghent, 
but  the  people  at  the  General  Staff  said  the  road  was 
so  crowded  with  transport  that  we  would  make  little 
progress,  and  that  the  better  course  would  be  to  take 
exactly  the  opposite  direction  and  go  by  way  of  Tourn- 
hout. 

I  took  several  of  the  ladies  of  the  corps  down  to 
the  boat,  which  was  to  take  them  to  Ostend,  which 
was  to  be  the  next  stand  of  the  Government.  They 
all  took  it  coolly  and  went  to  bed,  as  though  there  were 
no  bombardment  going  on.  The  King  and  Queen, 
the  Prime  Minister,  and  the  representatives  of  the 
alKes  remained  in  town  overnight. 

On  one  of  my  trips  out  of  the  hotel  I  met  the  Queen 
coming  in  to  say  good-bye  to  Princess  Koudatcheff 
(wife  of  the  Russian  Minister),  who  was  ill.  She 
stopped  to  greet  us  and  make  inquiries  as  to  each  one. 

After  dark  the  crowd  began  to  melt.  Winston 
Churchill  came  down  with  his  party,  got  into  motors, 
and  made  off  for  Bruges.  The  Belgian  officers  stay- 
ing at  the  hotel  got  off  with  their  units,  and  by  ten 
o'clock  the  staff  of  the  British  Legation,  Fowler  and  I, 
were  left  in  almost  undisputed  possession  of  the  hotel. 
The  water-supply  was  cut.  The  lights  were  out  and 
the  place  was  far  from  gay,  particularly  as  nearly  all 
the  servants  had  fled,  and  we  could  not  get  anything 
to  eat  or  drink. 

Most  of  the  town  repaired  to  the  cellars  for  the  night, 
but  we  decided  that  if  it  really  came,  we  saw  no  choice 
between  going  down  with  the  house  into  the  cellar  and 
having  the  house  come  down  on  top  of  us,  so  we  turned 


268  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

in  and  got  a  night's  rest,  which,  I  am  free  to  confess, 
was  rather  fitful. 

All  night  long  motors  were  snorting  away,  and  all 
night  long  the  guns  kept  pounding,  although  they  did 
not  seem  to  get  any  nearer.  With  the  intelligence  that 
one  has  when  half  awake,  I  carefully  arranged  a  pillow 
between  me  and  the  window,  as  a  protection  against 
shells ! 

We  got  up  early  and  went  out  into  the  streets  to 
watch  the  movement.  The  few  remaining  troops  were 
being  poured  out  on  the  road  to  Ghent.  On  foot,  in 
motors,  on  trains,  on  bicycles,  and  on  horseback,  they 
streamed.  The  civil  population  was  also  getting  away, 
and  all  the  trams  in  the  direction  of  the  Dutch  frontier 
were  loaded  with  people  carrying  their  little  bundles — - 
all  they  could  hope  to  take  away  with  them.  The  hos- 
pitals were  being  emptied  of  the  wounded  and  they 
were  getting  away  as  best  they  could,  those  whose  legs 
were  all  right  helping  those  who  had  trouble  in  walking. 
It  was  a  depressing  sight,  and  above  all,  the  sound  of 
the  big  guns  which  we  had  heard  steadily  since  the 
morning  before. 

We  got  under  way  about  half -past  eight,  after  a 
wretched  and  sketchy  breakfast,  and  after  saying 
good-bye  to  one  of  our  friends  of  the  British  Legation. 

First,  we  went  to  the  north  gate,  only  to  find  that  it 
had  been  closed  to  vehicles  a  few  minutes  before,  and 
that  barbed-wire  entanglements  had  been  stretched 
across  the  road.  Argument  was  vain,  so  we  worked 
our  way  back  through  the  traffic  and  reached  the  Porte 
de  Tournhout,  only  to  be  turned  back  again.  For 
nearly  an  hour  we  wandered  about  in  the  stream  of 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  269 

refugees,,  in  vehicles  and  on  foot,  before  we  finally 
succeeded  in  making  our  way  through  a  side  door  of 
the  Porte  de  Tournhout,  and  starting  that  way.  We 
were  not  at  all  sure  that  we  should  be  able  to  reach 
the  Dutch  frontier  through  Tournhout,  as  the  Germans 
were  supposed  to  be  that  far  north,  but  we  did  make  it 
after  a  long  series  of  stops,  to  be  examined  by  all  sorts 
of  Belgian  outposts,  who  kept  cropping  up  out  of  fields 
to  stop  us  and  look  through  our  papers.  From  some 
little  distance  out  of  town,  we  could  see  the  shells  burst- 
ing over  the  southern  part  of  the  town,  or  possibly  over 
the  villages  to  the  south  of  the  town  proper. 

We  plowed  along  through  Holland,  being  stopped 
all  afternoon  by  Civil  Guards,  and  reached  Maestricht 
at  simset.  We  went  straight  to  the  German  Consulate 
to  have  our  papers  put  in  order  and  learn  whether  it 
could  be  arranged  for  us  to  pass  the  lines  at  night. 
Our  papers  were  not  in  order  because  they  bore  no 
photographs,  and  the  Consul  could  not  see  that  the 
German  interest  in  our  mission  made  any  difference, 
so  that  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  wait  over  until 
morning,  and  get  some  pictures. 

It  took  us  until  ten  in  the  morning  to  get  our  photo- 
graphs and  have  our  papers  arranged,  and  by  good 
driving  we  reached  Liege  in  time  to  lunch  with  the 
Consul.  Then  on  to  Brussels  by  way  of  Namur.  On 
the  road  we  picked  up  a  German  officer  on  his  way  to 
Namur,  which  kindly  deed  saved  us  much  delay  in 
being  stopped  by  posts. 

We  reached  Brussels  at  five  and  hastened  to  send 
the  precious  plans  of  Antwerp  to  Lancken.  We  had 
just  settled  down  at  the  Legation  to  a  good  talk  when 


270  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

word  came  that  Lancken  was  anxious  to  see  me  at 
once.  I  went  over  to  the  PoHtical  Department  to  find 
that  the  gentleman  merely  wanted  a  formal  statement 
from  me  as  to  when  I  had  received  and  delivered  the 
plans,  so  that  he  could  make  it  a  matter  of  record.  I 
satisfied  him  on  these  points  and  went  my  way. 

Then  we  gathered  at  the  Legation  and  talked  steadily 
until  after  midnight. 

While  I  was  away  the  Minister  had  got  off  a  train- 
load  of  Americans,  and  with  them  he  had  sent  the  Eng- 
lish nurses.  That  reheved  Harold  Fowler  of  the  mis- 
sion that  brought  him,  but  we  bore  up  bravely. 

The  Germans  have  announced  the  fall  of  Antwerp 
and  have  apparently  occupied  the  city.  At  first  every- 
body was  much  downcast,  but  on  second  thought  they 
have  been  convinced  that  the  evacuation  of  the  army 
and  the  surrender  of  an  empty  shell  was  a  pretty  clever 
piece  of  work.  With  the  big  siege  guns  that  were  in 
action,  it  was  only  a  question  of  days  until  the  Germans 
would  have  reduced  all  the  forts.  And  then  if  the 
resistance  had  been  maintained,  the  greater  part  of  the 
army  would  probably  have  been  captured.  As  it  is,  the 
Belgians  inundated  the  country  to  keep  the  Germans 
from  cutting  off  their  retreat,  and  made  off  for  Ostend, 
leaving  only  a  handful  of  men  with  the  British  Marines, 
to  hold  the  Germans  in  check.  So  far  as  we  can  learn, 
most  of  the  army  has  succeeded  in  getting  away  and 
forming  a  junction  with  the  allies. 

Brussels,  October  H,  19H. — ^We  are  quite  up  in  the 
air  about  what  we  are  to  do  next.  Monday  afternoon 
I  went  around  to  headquarters  to  get  a  laisser-passer 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  271 

to  take  Harold  Fowler  back  to  England.  While  the 
matter  was  being  attended  to,  an  officer  came  in  and 
told  me  that  Baron  von  der  Lancken  wanted  very 
much  to  see  me.  When  I  went  into  his  room,  he  said 
that  there  was  nothing  in  particular  that  he  wanted 
to  see  me  about,  but  that  he  thought  I  would  be 
interested  in  hearing  the  news  and  in  telling  him  some- 
thing of  my  trip.  We  talked  along  for  some  time 
about  things  in  general,  and  then  he  told  me  that  the 
movement  of  troops  tow^ard  the  coast  was  progressing 
rapidly  and  that  the  Belgian  Government  would  soon 
be  driven  from  the  country.  Then  putting  the  tips 
of  his  fingers  together  and  looking  me  coyly  in  the  eye, 
he  inquired:  "And  then  my  dear  colleague,  what  will 
be  your  position.^"  He  elaborated  by  pointing  out 
that  the  Government,  to  which  we  are  accredited, 
having  left  the  country,  we  would  be  merely  in  the 
position  of  foreigners  of  distinction  residing  here,  and 
that  we  would  have  no  official  rank  or  standing.  The 
idea  evidently  is  that  they  do  not  care  to  have  us  around 
any  longer  than  they  can  help. 

I  later  learned  that  Villalobar  had  been  more  ready 
than  I  with  his  retort.  Li  the  course  of  a  call  later  in 
the  afternoon,  Lancken  had  talked  the  same  matter 
over  with  him,  and  had  wound  up  with  the  same 
genial  question:  *'And  then  my  dear  colleague,  what 
w^ll  be  your  position  .f^"  Without  any  hesitation, 
Villalobar  replied:  "My  situation  will  be  just  the  same 
as  yours.  We  are  both  representatives  of  our  country 
in  a  country  not  our  own.  We  shall  continue  to  owe 
each  other  respect,  and  to  make  the  best  of  condi- 
tions." 


272  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

The  latest  news  we  have  this  afternoon  is  to  the 
effect  that  the  Government  has  been  driven  from 
Ostend,  presumably  to  the  Isle  of  Guernsey.  It 
would  be  pleasant,  in  a  way,  to  retire  to  a  retreat  of 
that  sort  for  a  few  months'  rest,  but  I  fear  there  is 
nothing  of  that  sort  in  store. 

To-day  I  ran  across  an  order  from  the  Governor- 
General  forbidding  civilians  to  ride  bicycles.  The 
order  concludes  as  follows: 

Civilians  who,  in  spite  of  this,  continue  to  ride  bicycles,  expose 
themselves  to  being  shot  by  German  troops. 

If  a  cyclist  is  suspected  of  planning  to  damage  railroad, 
telegraph  or  telephone  lines,  or  of  the  intention  of  attacking 
German  troops,  he  will  be  shot  according  to  martial  law. 

Apparently  it  is  no  longer  necessary  to  go  through 
the  forms  of  proving  that  the  cycKst  had  any  evil 
intention.  The  mere  suspicion  is  enough  to  have 
him  shot. 

In  the  course  of  a  visit  to  General  von  Luttwitz 
to-day,  one  of  the  colleagues  remarked  that  the  Ger- 
mans must  keep  the  Belgians  alive,  and  could  not  allow 
them  to  starve.  Luttwitz  was  not  at  aU  of  that  mind, 
for  he  said  with  some  show  of  feeling: 

"The  allies  are  at  liberty  to  feed  the  Belgians.  If 
they  don't,  they  are  responsible  for  anything  that 
may  happen.  If  there  are  bread  riots,  the  natural 
thing  would  be  for  us  to  drive  the  whole  civil  popula- 
tion into  some  restricted  area,  Uke  the  Province  of 
Luxembourg,  build  a  barbed  wire  fence  around  them, 
anid  leave  them  to  starve  in  accordance  with  the  pohcy 
of  their  allies." 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  273 

And  as  the  German  policy  is  more  or  less  frankly 
stated  as  a  determination  to  wipe  out  as  many  of  the 
enemy  as  possible  without  regard  to  what  is  or  has 
been  considered  as  permissible,  it  is  quite  within  the 
realm  of  possibiKty  that  they  would  be  prepared  to 
let  the  Belgian  people  starve.  In  any  event,  you  can't 
gamble  w4th  the  hves  of  seven  millions  of  people 
when  all  you  have  to  go  on  is  the  belief  that  Germany 
will  be  guided  by  the  dictates  of  humanity. 

Fowler  was  to  have  left  yesterday  morning,  and 
had  engaged  a  seat  in  a  new  motor  that  is  being  run 
out  by  way  of  Maestricht.  It  was  to  have  called  at 
my  house  at  seven  o'clock  yesterday  morning,  and  we 
were  up  and  about  bright  and  early.  We  waited  until 
a  httle  after  nine,  when  Eugene  turned  up  to  say 
that  the  chauffeur  had  been  arrested  and  put  in  jail 
for  having  carried  correspondence  and  having  been 
caught  nosing  around  one  of  the  forts  at  Liege.  The 
service  is  now  suspended,  and  we  don't  see  any  prospect 
of  his  getting  off  before  Friday,  w^hen  we  are  sending 
a  courier  to  the  Legation  at  The  Hague. 

Yesterday  afternoon  we  went  up  to  Antwerp  to  see 
how  our  old  motor-car  was  getting  along.  It  was  out 
of  whack,  and  we  were  obliged  to  get  another  to  come 
back  to  Brussels.  I  took  the  big  car  and  organised 
an  expedition  of  Monsieur  de  Leval,  Fowler  and  a 
German  official  named  Conrad,  who  went  along  to 
help  us  over  the  rough  places.  It  is  the  first  time  for 
weeks  that  the  direct  route  has  been  feasible. 

I  have  had  enough  of  ruined  towns,  and  was  not 
able  to  get  the  awful  sights  out  of  my  head  all  night, 
but  spent  my  time  in  bad  dreams.     From  Vilvorde 


274  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

right  into  Antwerp  there  is  not  a  town  intact.  Ep- 
peghem,  Sempst,  Mahnes  Waehlem,  Berchem — all 
razed  to  the  ground.  In  Malines  a  good  part  of  the 
town  is  standing  and  I  suppose  that  the  Cathedral 
can  be  restored,  but  the  other  towns  are  done  for. 
There  were  practically  no  civihans  in  any  of  them — a 
few  poor  peasants  poking  dismally  about  in  the  ruins, 
trying  to  find  some  odds  and  ends  that  they  could  save 
from  the  general  wreck.  There  were  some  children 
sitting  on  the  steps  of  deserted  houses  and  a  few  hungry 
dogs  prowling  around,  but  no  other  signs  of  Ufe.  All 
the  way  from  the  outskirts  of  Brussels  straight  through 
to  Antwerp,  the  road  was  lined  with  empty  bottles. 
They  gave  a  pretty  good  idea  of  what  had  gone  on 
along  the  line  of  march. 

The  bombardment  of  Antwerp  lasted  from  the  after- 
noon that  we  left  up  to  Friday  noon.  The  damage  is 
pretty  evenly  distributed.  Houses  here  and  there  in 
every  street  were  badly  smashed  and  the  whole  block 
across  the  street  from  the  Hotel  St.  Antoine,  where  we 
stayed,  was  burned  to  the  groimd.  The  Cathedral  was 
not  damaged. 

When  we  were  there  last  week,  the  streets  were 
thronged  with  people  and  with  motors.  Yesterday 
there  was  not  a  soul  to  be  seen  for  blocks  together. 
The  town  was  practically  deserted. 

The  garage  where  I  had  left  my  car  had  been  taken 
over  by  the  mihtary  authorities.  The  car  was  put 
away  on  the  second  floor  undamaged,  but  also  un- 
repaired, so  we  shall  have  to  wait  until  things  settle 
down  a  little  and  we  can  get  some  work  done.  I  shall 
have  to  go  back  to  Antwerp  a  httle  later  and  attend 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  275 

to  that.  There  is  some  comfort  in  the  fact  that  the 
car  has  not  been  smashed. 

This  morning  the  Committee  for  the  Provisioning 
of  Brussels  came  in,  and  asked  whether  I  was  pre- 
pared to  go  to  London  for  them  and  endeavour  to 
arrange  for  some  sort  of  permanent  agreement  with 
the  British  Government  for  the  provisioning  of  the 
civiHan  population  of  Belgium.    I  am  willing. 

In  the  course  of  some  errands  this  afternoon,  I 
dropped  in  on  Baronne  Lambert  for  a  cup  of  tea.  The 
Baron  came  in  and  then  Villalobar.  About  two 
minutes  later,  Lambert  was  called  out  of  the  room  to 
speak  with  a  German  officer,  who  demanded  that  he 
accompany  him  to  headquarters.  Villalobar  went 
with  him  to  see  what  was  up,  and  I  stayed  behind  to 
see  if  I  could  be  of  any  use.  We  stood  by  for  a  little 
over  half  an  hour,  and  then  when  Mme.  Lambert  could 
stand  it  no  longer,  I  jumped  in  my  car  and  went  down 
to  see  what  was  happening.  I  found  Villalobar  on  the 
sidewalk,  getting  into  his  car.  He  was  depressed  and 
said  that  he  had  been  obhged  to  leave  the  Baron  with 
the  Germans;  that  he  was  suspected  of  nobody  would 
say  what,  and  that  the  Germans  were  going  to  search 
the  house.  I  went  back  and  had  them  all  ready  for 
the  shock  of  the  invasion.  They  were  standing  by 
for  the  search  party,  when  in  walked  the  Baron,  smiling 
broadly.  They  had  sent  him  home  under  guard  of  two 
armed  men,  and  were  to  search  the  house  in  the  course  of 
a  few  minutes.  While  he  was  telling  about  it,  two  officers 
arrived,  profusely  apologetic,  and  asked  to  be  shown 
over  the  Red  Cross  hospital,  which  had  been  installed 
on  the  ground  floor.     They  were  taken  all  through 


276  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

the  place,  and  found  only  a  lot  of  German  soldiers 
carrying  off  the  beds  and  other  belongings.  Then 
they  searched  the  Baron's  private  office  and  that  of 
his  son,  and  withdrew  after  more  excuses. 

There  was  nothing  to  show  for  the  whole  perform- 
ance, and  nothmg  had  been  accomphshed  beyond 
making  a  lot  of  people  nervous  and  apprehensive. 
That  is  the  sort  of  thing  that  everybody  is  subject  to 
these  days,  without  any  hope  of  redress.  And,  of 
course,  this  was  the  least  serious  thing  that  could 
happen. 

On  board  S.S.  ''Princess  Juliana,^'  off  Dover,  Sun- 
day, October  19,  19H. — ^Here  we  are  again,  coming 
into  England  in  rain  and  fog.  Up  to  the  last  minute, 
I  was  in  great  doubt  as  to  whether  we  should  come  at 
all,  but  everything  was  finally  straightened  out  and 
here  we  are. 

Friday  we  spent  in  hard  work,  aggravated  with  many 
conferences.  In  the  morning  most  of  the  German 
civil  and  military  Government  came  to  the  Legation 
and  discussed  the  food  question  with  the  members 
of  the  Committee,  the  Spanish  Minister  and  ourselves. 
They  all  united  in  asking  that  I  go  to  London  and  lay 
the  situation  before  the  Belgian  Minister,  the  Spanish 
and  American  Ambassadors  and,  under  their  chaperon- 
age,  before  the  British  Government.  When  this  had 
been  agreed  to,  some  bright  soul  suggested  that  I  be 
accompanied  by  a  commission  of  fifteen  prominent 
Belgians,  to  add  impressiveness  to  what  I  had  to  say. 
The  two  Ministers  rose  up  and  said  no,  adding  that 
as  I  was  to  do  the  work  and  bear  the  responsibility 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  277 

in  going  on  this  mission  of  forlorn  hope,  I  should  not 
be  hampered  by  having  to  carry  the  weight  of  fifteen 
speech  makers.  That  was  knocked  in  the  head,  and 
then  to  show  that  we  were  not  unreasonable,  we  asked 
that  two  members  of  the  Committee  go  along.  The 
men  chosen  were  Baron  Lambert  and  Monsieur 
Francqui,  one  of  the  leading  bankers  of  Brussels  and  a 
man  of  poise  and  judgment.  They  expressed  reluct- 
ance but  were  soon  persuaded. 

This  morning,  during  a  call  at  the  Pohtical  Depart- 
ment, the  talk  turned  on  Mexico.  I  was  asked  what 
the  President  was  driving  at,  and  answered  that  he 
was  clearly  trying  to  give  the  Mexicans  every  oppor- 
tunity to  solve  their  own  troubles  without  interference. 
I  was  then  asked,  rather  slyly,  whether  the  President 
really  wanted  them  to  settle  their  troubles.  Without 
waiting  to  hear  my  answer,  the  oracle  went  on  to  tell 
me  what  our  real  policy  was  as  he  saw  it,  and  he  had 
no  doubts.  The  President  wanted  to  take  Mexico, 
but  was  intelligent  enough  to  realise  that  if  he  simply 
seized  it,  he  would  forfeit  any  claim  he  might  have  to 
disinterestedness,  and  our  Anglo-Saxon  hypocrisy  could 
not  swallow  that.  Therefore,  he  was  deliberately 
allowing  the  Mexicans  to  drift  into  a  hopeless  condi- 
tion of  anarchy,  which  he  knew  would  get  steadily 
worse,  until  all  the  best  and  most  prosperous  elements 
in  the  country  would  come  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
would  be  happier  and  safer  under  American  rule  than 
under  the  uncertain  despotism  of  changing  factions. 
The  President  could  then  yield  to  their  entreaties,  and 
could  take  over  the  government  of  Mexico  as  a  humani- 
tarian service  to  the  people. 


278  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

I  made  a  feeble  attempt  to  explain  what  our  real 
feelings  were  toward  Mexico,  but  it  soon  became  evident 
that  we  could  not  think  in  the  same  terms,  so  I  gave 
up.  There  was  no  criticism  expressed  or  imphed.  On 
the  contrary,  there  was  evidence  of  real  admiration 
of  the  President's  technique. 

The  rest  of  the  day  was  spent  in  getting  ready 
letters  and  telegrams  and  other  papers  necessary  in 
our  work. 

Fowler  and  I  dined  at  the  Lambert's,  finished  up 
our  work  at  the  Legation,  and  got  to  bed  at  midnight. 
We  got  up  yesterday  morning  at  half-past  three,  and 
at  half-past  four  set  sail  in  three  motors — one  filled 
with  servants  and  mountains  of  small  baggage. 

We  sped  in  the  dark  through  ruined  villages  to 
Antwerp,  and  from  there  to  Esschen  on  the  Dutch 
frontier,  which  we  reached  soon  after  daylight.  We 
had  papers  from  the  Dutch  Legation,  calling  upon  the 
customs  authorities  to  let  us  pass,  but  a  chuckle-headed 
douanier  would  not  even  read  our  papers,  and  held  us 
up  for  an  hour,  while  he  made  out  papers  of  various 
sorts  and  collected  a  deposit  on  our  cars.  I  expostulated 
in  vain,  and  shall  have  to  get  my  comfort  from  making 
a  row  later.  As  a  consequence  of  his  cussedness,  we 
missed  the  morning  boat  train  to  Flushing,  and  had 
to  spend  the  day  in  that  charming  city.  We  found  the 
place  filled  with  refugees  from  all  parts  of  Belgium, 
and  were  greeted  on  every  hand  by  people  we  knew. 
The  hotels  were  filled  to  overflowing,  and  people  were 
living  in  freight  cars,  sheds  and  on  the  sidewalk.  We 
clung  to  chairs  in  the  reading  room  at  one  of  the  hotels, 
and  walked  the  streets  until  nine  o'clock,  when  we  got 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  279 

aboard  the  boat  with  eight  hundred  other  people. 
Cabins  were  not  to  be  had  for  love  or  money,  but 
Francqui,  by  judicious  corruption,  got  us  a  place  to 
sleep,  and  we  slept  hard,  despite  the  noise,  which  was 
tremendous. 

London,  October  20,  1914. — ^Here  we  are,  much 
cheered  up  by  the  prospect. 

We  hammered  hard  yesterday  and  to-day,  and  this 
afternoon  it  looks  as  though  we  had  secured  the  per- 
mission of  the  British  Government  to  send  food  to  our 
people  in  Belgium. 

We  got  into  Folkstone  at  4  o'clock  on  Sunday,  were 
passed  immediately  by  the  authorities,  and  then  spent 
an  hour  and  a  half  waiting  for  our  train  to  pull  out. 
We  got  into  darkened  London  about  a  quarter  of  eight. 
We  sat  around  and  visited  beyond  our  usual  hours, 
and  yesterday  morning  I  was  called  ahead  of  anybody 
else,  so  as  to  get  down  to  my  day's  work. 

First,  I  got  things  started  at  the  Embassy,  by 
getting  off  a  lot  of  telegrams  and  rmming  away  from 
an  ofiice  full  of  people  who,  in  some  mysterious  way, 
had  heard  I  was  here.  I  saw  several  of  them,  but  as 
my  day  was  going,  I  up  and  ran. 

First,  to  Alfred  Rothschild's  house  in  Park  Lane, 
where  I  found  Baron  Lambert  waiting  for  me.  He 
was  beaming,  as  his  son  (serving  in  the  Belgian  army) 
had  turned  up  safe  and  well  before  leavuig  to  rejoin 
his  regiment  in  France. 

Next  I  went  to  the  Spanish  Embassy,  and  gave  the 
Ambassador  details  of  what  we  wanted.  He  caught  the 
idea  immediately,  and  has  done  everything  in  his  power. 


280  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

When  I  got  back  to  our  chancery,  I  found  that  the 
Ambassador  had  come  in,  so  I  went  over  the  whole 
business  again,  and  made  an  appointment  for  a  con- 
ference with  him  for  the  Spanish  Ambassador  and  my 
travelhng  companions 

At  half-past  five  we  had  our  conference  with  the 
two  Ambassadors.  They  made  an  appointment  with 
Sir  Edward  Grey  for  this  afternoon,  and  w^ent  over  the 
situation  at  some  length,  to  make  sure  of  the  details. 

In  view  of  its  significance  this  meeting  was  most 
impressive  to  me.  It  was  made  up  of  the  two  Ambassa- 
dors, my  two  companions,  and  Herbert  Hoover,  the 
man  who  is  going  to  tackle  one  of  the  biggest  jobs 
of  the  time.  He  has  been  studying  the  situation,  the 
needs  of  the  civil  population  and  the  difficulties  to 
be  overcome  ever  since  Shaler's  arrival  several  weeks 
ago.  While  we  could  enlighten  him  in  regard  to  recent 
developments  and  matters  of  detail  I  w^as  astonished 
to  see  how  clearly  he  grasped  all  the  essentials  of  the 
situation.  He  sat  still  while  the  rest  of  us  talked  but 
his  few  remarks  were  very  much  to  the  point,  par- 
ticularly when,  in  answer  to  a  question,  he  said 
very  quietly:  "Yes,  I'll  take  over  the  work.  I  have 
about  finished  what  I  have  in  hand.  Now  we  can 
take  up  this." 

October  21st, — The  Belgian  Government  has  sent 
over  Monsieur  de  Berryer,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
to  discuss  the  food  question  and  the  equally  important 
money  question. 

I  had  an  early  morning  note  from  the  Spanish  Am- 
bassador and  went  around  to  see  him. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  281 

London  is  filled  with  war  spirit;  not  hysterics,  but 
good  determined  work.  The  streets  are  full  of  singing 
recruits  marching  . hither  and  yon — mostly  yon.  The 
army  must  be  growing  at  a  tremendous  rate;  in  fact, 
faster  than  equipment  can  be  provided,  and  they  are 
not  slow  about  that. 

London,  October  23,  19H. — On  Wednesday  we  had 
things  pretty  well  settled,  and  had  also  succeeded  in 
raising  from  official  sources  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  pounds.  I  took  a  fair  amount  of  satis- 
faction in  gloating  over  those  who  had  croaked.  Then 
some  helpful  soul  came  along  and  threw  a  monkey 
wrench  into  the  machinery,  so  that  a  good  part  of  the 
work  has  to  be  done  over  again.  At  any  rate,  we 
hope  to  get,  some  time  to-day,  permission  to  export 
enough  food  to  serve  as  a  stop  gap  until  the  general 
question  can  be  settled. 

Monsieur  Francqui  and  Baron  Lambert  had  to  start 
back  this  morning  to  organise  the  Belgian  local  com- 
mittees into  one  central  national  affair,  and  I  am  to 
stay  on  until  things  are  settled  one  w^ay  or  the  other. 
That  may  mean  not  getting  back  to  Belgium  for  a 
week  or  two  more. 

For  some  time  I  have  been  threatening  to  get  a  dog 
and  yesterday,  feeling  the  need  of  intelligent  canine 
sympathy,  I  succumbed.  At  the  Army  and  Navy 
Stores,  I  found  a  hideous  brindle  bull  that  some  officer 
had  left  on  going  to  the  front.  He  was  promptly 
acquired,  and  given  the  name  of  Max  in  honour  of 
our  Burgomaster.  The  Stores  are  to  take  care  of  him 
for  me  until  I  return  to  Belgium. 


282    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

When  I  got  back  to  the  Embassy,  from  my  visit 
to  the  Stores,  I  found  Shaler  waiting  for  me  with  the 
news  that  I  was  expected  at  a  meeting  at  Mr.  Hoover's 
office  in  fifteen  minutes,  to  discuss  matters  with  the 
committee  which  is  being  formed  to  handle  the  feeding 
of  the  Belgian  civil  population. 

I  was  surprised  to  find  that  I  had  been  made  a 
member  of  this  committee,  and  was  expected  to 
attend.  It  was  a  comfort  to  talk  with  men  who  know 
what  they  are  about  and  who  can  make  up  their 
minds  right  the  first  time.  Hoover  is  a  wonder  and 
has  the  faculty  of  getting  big-caUbre  men  about  him. 
We  were  not  in  session  more  than  an  hour,  but  in  that 
time  we  went  over  the  needs  of  the  Belgian  civil 
population,  the  means  of  meeting  immediate  needs, 
the  broader  question  of  finding  food  from  other  parts 
of  the  world  to  continue  the  work,  the  problem  of 
getting  money  from  public  and  private  sources  to 
pay  expenses,  and  finally  the  organisation  to  be  set 
up  in  Belgium,  England,  America  and  Holland,  to 
handle  the  work.  Before  we  left  a  tentative  organisa- 
tion had  been  estabhshed  and  people  despatched  on 
various  duties  with  orders  to  get  things  started  without 
loss  of  time,  so  that  food  could  be  pushed  across  the 
line  into  Belgium  at  the  first  possible  moment. 

It  is  going  to  be  up-hill  work  for  many  reasons,  but  it 
would  be  hard  to  find  a  group  of  men  who  inspire  as 
much  confidence  as  these  that  everything  possible  will 
be  done,  and  occasionally  a  httle  that  is  impossible. 

October  2^th. — ^Yesterday  was  another  busy  day. 
I  did  not  know  that  the  entire  population  of  Belgium 


Copyright  by  Undcruood  tt  Uiulcrwood 

Herbert  C.  Hoover 


French  Howitzer  near  H- 


German  camp  kitchen 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    283 

could  make  such  a  crowd  as  I  have  had  in  the  waiting- 
room  of  the  chancery.  In  some  mysterious  way  the 
news  of  my  coming  to  London  has  got  about,  and 
swarms  of  people  are  coming  in  with  little  errands  they 
want  done  and  messages  to  be  delivered  to  their  friends 
and  families  in  Brussels.  It  makes  work,  but  that  sort 
of  thing  is  a  comfort  to  lots  of  people  and  is  w^orth 
undertaking.  I  have  made  it  clear  to  all  of  them  that 
anything  to  be  delivered  will  be  turned  over  to  the 
German  authorities  first,  and  hope  they  will  govern 
themselves  accordingly. 

The  British  Government  has  stipulated  that  the 
feeding  of  the  civil  population  shall  be  carried  on  by 
a  neutral  organisation,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
American  and  Spanish  Ambassadors  in  London  and 
Berlin,  and  the  American  and  Spanish  Ministers  in 
Brussels.  The  food  is  to  be  consigned  to  the  American 
Minister  in  Brussels  for  distribution  by  the  organisa- 
tion which  is  to  be  known  as  the  American  Rehef 
Committee,  with  Hoover  as  chairman  and  motive 
power.  The  various  local  Belgian  committees  are  to 
be  grouped  together  in  a  national  organisation,  to 
assist  in  the  distribution  of  the  foodstuffs  once  they 
are  delivered  inside  the  Belgian  frontier.  The  members 
of  the  Belgian  organisation  are,  of  course,  prisoners 
of  the  Germans  and  unable  to  give  any  effective  guar- 
antees as  to  the  disposal  of  the  supplies.  The  British 
Government  has,  therefore,  stipulated  that  all  authority 
and  responsibility  are  to  be  vested  in  the  American 
Committee,  and  that  the  Belgians  are  to  be  regarded 
simply  as  a  distributing  agency.  This  is,  of  course, 
in  no  sense  a  reflection  of  the  Belgians  engaged  on  the 


284    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

work,  but  merely  a  recognition  of  the  difficulties  of 
their  position. 

The  neutral  composition  of  the  Committee  assures 
it  a  freedom  of  travel  and  action,  and  an  independence 
of  pohtical  and  personal  pressure,  and  a  consequent 
freedom  of  administration  which  the  Belgians  could 
not  hope  to  enjoy.  It  is  only  by  the  assumption  of 
complete  authority  and  responsibility  by  the  Com- 
mittee that  the  patrons  will  be  able  to  give  the  various 
Governments  concerned  the  necessary  assurances  as 
to  the  disposition  of  foodstuffs  and  the  fulfillment  of 
guarantees. 

There  is  something  splendid  about  the  way  Hoover 
and  his  associates  have  abandoned  their  own  affairs 
and  all  thought  of  themselves  in  order  to  turn  their 
entire  attention  to  feeding  the  Belgians.  They  have 
absolutely  cut  loose  from  their  business,  and  are  to 
give  their  whole  time  to  the  work  of  the  Committee. 
This  is  done  without  heroics.  I  should  hardly  have 
known  it  was  done,  but  for  the  fact  that  Hoover  re- 
marked in  a  matter  of  fact  way: 

*'0f  course  everybody  will  have  to  be  prepared  to 
let  business  go  and  give  their  whole  time." 

And  it  was  so  completely  taken  for  granted  that 
there  is  nothing  but  a  murmur  of  assent. 

Another  strenuous  day  on  the  food  question  and 
other  things. 

My  plans  were  to  leave  for  Brussels  on  Monday 
morning,  but  in  the  evenmg  the  Ambassador  sent 
for  me  and  it  was  decided  that  I  should  go  to  Havre 
and  from  there  to  see  the  King  and  Queen.  That 
will  take  me  to  within  a  couple  of  hours  from  Brussels, 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    285 

according  to  old  calculations,  but  under  present  con- 
ditions I  shall  have  to  get  there  by  way  of  France, 
England  and  Holland. 

Hotel  des  Regales,  Havre,  October  26,  19H. — ^This  is 
the  third  town  where  I  have  paid  my  respects  to  the 
Belgian  Government.  I  would  gladly  have  foregone 
the  experience,  for  it  is  depressing. 

I  left  Waterloo  station  at  9:15  last  night.  Instead 
of  the  usual  two-hour  run  to  Southampton,  we  puttered 
along  and  did  not  arrive  until  after  one.  I  had  a 
compartment  and  made  myself  as  comfortable  as 
possible.  When  we  arrived  I  found  poor  Colonel 
Swalm,  the  Consul,  waiting  for  me.  The  Ambassador 
had  telegraphed  him  to  see  me  off,  and  he  did  so  regard- 
less of  the  hour.  I  felt  horribly  guilty  to  have  him 
waiting  about  for  me,  but  it  certainly  did  make  things 
a  lot  easier. 

I  got  straight  to  bed,  but  had  a  hard  time  sleeping, 
as  there  was  a  tremendous  racket  of  loading  all  night 
long.  Nearly  all  the  passengers  were  British  officers 
on  their  way  to  the  front.  Among  the  others  I  found 
de  Bassompierre  of  the  Foreign  Office,  and  a  Mr.  and 

Mrs.  W ,  who  were  coming  over  with  a  Rolls-Royce, 

to  be  presented  to  the  Belgian  General  Staff.  If  I  go 
to  the  front,  he  will  take  me.  We  sailed  at  daybreak 
and  were  here  by  two  o'clock.  Our  Consul,  Osborne, 
was  waiting  for  me  at  the  dock  with  Henry  Need- 
ham,  the  correspondent  of  Colliers.  I  was  let 
straight  through  the  customs,  where  a  woman  marked 
my  bag,  and  then  came  to  this  hotel  overlooking 
the  sea. 


286    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

This  was  the  first  thing  we  saw  as  we  came  into  the 
harbour.  It  is  in  a  suburb  called  Nice  Havrais,  built 
by  old  Dufayel  of  Paris.  It  was  a  curious  and  pathetic 
sensation  to  see  the  Belgian  flags  still  flying  bravely. 
The  different  Ministries  are  set  up  here,  and  one  villa 
has  been  set  aside  for  the  King  and  Queen,  who  have 
not  yet  left  Belgian  soil.  The  Legations  are  all  estab- 
lished in  this  hotel  and  are  bored  to  extinction,  as  their 
work  has  dropped  very  much.  This  little  suburb 
enjoys  all  the  privileges  of  extraterritoriality,  and 
even  the  French  Minister  to  Belgium  goes  through 
the  motions  of  being  accredited  to  a  foreign  Govern- 
ment in  his  coimtry.  The  cars  of  the  various  Lega- 
tions go  buzzing  around  among  the  French  and  Belgian 
and  British  cars.  The  streets  are  full  of  troops  of  the 
three  nations,  while  some  twenty  transports  ride  at 
anchor  in  the  open  roadstead.  Fresh  troops  from 
England  are  arriving  constantly,  and  march  singing 
through  the  town  to  the  camps  outside,  whence  they 
are  sent  to  the  front.  There  are  two  British  hospitals 
near  this  hotel — one  of  them  the  Casino — and  wounded 
are  everywhere.  The  place  is  astonishingly  calm,  but 
everybody  knows  there  is  a  war.  The  French  have 
their  teeth  set  and  are  confident  of  the  final  outcome. 
Women  are  in  the  custom  house,  drive  the  trams, 
collect  the  fares  and  do  a  hundred  other  things  that 
are  usually  out  of  their  line. 

I  found  the  hall  filled  with  colleagues,  and  exchanged 
greetings  with  the  crowd  before  going  over  to  the  For- 
eign Office  to  make  my  bow.  I  found  Colonel  Fair- 
holme  packing,  and  ready  to  leave  this  evening  for 
England. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    287 

The  Foreign  Office  has  a  pretty  Httle  villa  in  a  pretty 
little  garden  and  keeps  busy.  I  saw  everybody,  from 
Monsieur  Davignon  down  to  the  porters,  and  spent 
an  hour  and  a  half  there.  Then  at  their  request  I 
went  to  the  "Palace"  and  talked  with  General  Jung- 
bluth.  He  will  try  to  arrange  my  business  for  me  by 
telegraph,  and  will  let  me  know  in  the  morning  whether 
I  am  to  go  up  to  the  front  to  see  the  King  and  Queen. 

When  I  came  away  from  this  call.  Osborne  was  wait- 
ing for  me  and  took  me  down  to  the  Consulate  for  an 
hour's  talk.  Then  back  to  the  hotel  to  dine  with  Sir 
Francis.  After  dinner  we  all  went  out  and  bade  the 
Colonel  farewell. 

Tuesday. — General  Jungbluth  was  waiting  for  me 
when  I  came  down  this  morning,  to  say  that  I  should 
go  to  the  front.  Osborne  was  waiting  with  his  car, 
and  took  me  to  the  Ministry  of  War,  to  ask  for  a  lift  to 
Dunkerque  in  a  military  car.  As  luck  would  have  it, 
to-day's  car  had  left  ten  minutes  before,  so  I  was  put 
off  until  to-morrow  morning,  when  I  shall  go  up  with 

the  W s.     I  have  spent  a  good  part  of  the  day 

getting  my  papers  in  order — both  French  and  Belgian 
— and  in  the  tiresome  occupation  of  being  photo- 
graphed. 

October  28th,  Hotel  des  Arcades,  Dunkerque. — ^Another 
one-night  stand. 

We  cleared  out  of  Havre  this  morning  over  muddy 
and  slippery  roads.  It  rained  hard  all  night,  and  we 
made  good  time  by  way  of  Fecamp,  Dieppe,  Eu,  Abbe- 
ville, Montreuil,  Bologne,  Marquise,  and  Calais,  get- 


288    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

ting  to  Diinkerque  a  little  after  four,  just  in  time  to 
smell  the  smoke  of  a  couple  of  bombs  dropped  by  an 
aeroplane  across  the  street  from  the  oflSce  of  the  Prime 
Minister,  upon  whom  I  called. 

We  began  running  into  big  bunches  of  troops  at 
Abbeville — English,  French  and  Belgian.  I  saw  some 
of  the  Indian  troops  doing  sentry  duty  and  looking 
cold  and  uncomfortable,  and  did  not  blame  them,  for 
it  was  raw  and  cheerless.  The  Rolls-Royce  is  a  beauty 
and  sailed  along  all  day  like  a  gondola. 

The  Prime  Minister  had  set  up  his  ofBce  in  the 
Mayor's  room  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  which  I  found  in 
an  uproar  because  of  the  bombs.  The  Prime  Minister 
was  said  to  be  at  Headquarters,  at  Furnes,  across  the 
Belgian  frontier,  and  I  was  urged  to  go  there  to  see  him. 
We  made  twenty-one  kilometers  there,  in  time  to  find 
that  little  to\vn  in  a  great  state  of  excitement,  because 
three  big  shells  had  come  from  nobody  knew  where, 
and  burst  by  the  railroad  station. 

But  the  Prime  Minister  was  not  there,  and  it  was 
dark,  so  we  gathered  up  a  guide  and  set  off  for  la  Panne, 
where  the  King  and  Queen  are  hving.  Neither  of  them 
was  there;  nobody  but  a  gendarme  on  duty.  The 
King  was  off  with  the  troops  and  the  Queen  was  look- 
ing after  the  wounded,  who  have  overflowed  all  the 
hospitals.  In  the  past  week — ^just  this  one  engage- 
ment— the  Belgians  have  suffered  12,000  casualties. 

The  road  from  Furnes  to  la  Panne  and  back  lay  close 
behind  the  lines,  so  that  we  could  hear  the  steady  roar 
of  the  fighting  and  see  the  bursting  shells,  particularly 
those  from  the  British  ships,  which  made  a  tremendous 
flash  and  roar. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    289 

We  came  on  back  to  town,  being  stopped  every 
minute  by  French  outposts,  and  got  to  this  hostehy 
at  seven-thirty.  While  I  was  cleaning  up,  the  Prime 
Minister  came  in  and  claimed  me  for  dinner.  He  had 
his  secretary,  Count  Lichtervelde,  A.  B.,  who  is  here 
looking  after  the  wounded,  and  a  couple  of  oflBcers. 
And  then  we  talked  until  the  hands  dropped  off  the 
clock  and  I  was  nearly  dead  for  sleep.  Then  I  took 
A.  B.  home  to  her  hospital,  through  the  streets  dark- 
ened for  the  benefit  of  Count  Zeppelin,  and  now  I  am 
ready  for  my  rest. 

I  have  plans  for  to-morrow,  but  shall  see  what  happens 
to  them  when  I  see  the  Prime  Minister  in  the  morning. 

October  29th. — Still  at  Dunkerque. 

Another  busy  and  interesting  day,  and  if  all  goes 
well,  I  shall  be  back  in  London  to-morrow  night. 

I  was  up  early,  did  a  httle  writing,  and  went  over  to 
see  the  Prime  Minister,  who  was  w^aiting  for  me. 
Despatched  my  business  with  him  in  short  order,  to 
my  complete  satisfaction.  He  is  a  trump,  and  it  is  a 
joy  to  do  business  with  him,  even  at  a  time  when  he  is 
hounded,  as  he  is  now. 

He  said  the  King  was  out  with  the  troops,  but  had 
sent  in  to  say  he  w^anted  to  see  me  and  w^ould  come  in 
to  headquarters  at  Furnes  at  four-thirty  for  that  pur- 
pose. The  Queen  had  also  sent  word  in  that  she 
wanted  to  see  me.  She  was  busy  looking  after  the 
wounded,  but  said  she  would  come  to  la  Panne  at  four. 
That  suited  me,  although  I  was  in  some  doubt  as  to 
how  I  would  be  able  to  make  connections  between  the 
two  audiences. 


290    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Last  night  I  had  talked  of  going  out  to  look  at  the 
fighting,  and  A.  B.  had  offered  to  conduct  me.  I  had 
not  taken  the  offer  very  seriously,  but  when  I  got  back 
to  the  hotel  after  seeing  the  Prime  Minister,  she  was 
there  in  a  big  racing  car,  with  a  crack  chauffeur,  ready 
for  the  jaunt.  She  was  in  her  campaign  kit  of  knickers, 
with  a  long  rain-coat  and  a  big  knitted  cap,  and  an 

entrancing  boy  she  made.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W had  asked 

to  go  along,  and  were  in  their  car  with  Barbagon,  an 
aide-de-camp  of  the  Prime  Minister.  Monsieur  de 
Broqueville  came  out  quite  seriously  and  begged  A.  B. 
not  to  lead  me  into  danger,  whereat  everybody  had  a 
good  laugh. 

We  made  quick  time  to  Fumes  and  drew  up  before 
Headquarters,  where  we  learned  what  was  known  of 
the  lay  of  the  land  and  the  points  of  the  front  we  could 
reach  without  getting  in  the  way.  The  Belgians,  who 
had  for  ten  days  held  the  line  of  the  Yser  from  Nieu- 
port  to  Dixmude,  waiting  for  reinforcements  to  come 
up,  had  been  obliged  to  fall  back  to  the  line  of  the  rail- 
road, which  forms  the  chord  of  the  arc,  and  had  inun- 
dated the  intervening  territory  to  impede  the  German 
advance.  French  and  English  troops  were  being 
brought  up  in  large  numbers  to  relieve  the  Belgians, 
who  have  lost  in  killed  and  wounded  nearly  a  third  of 
the  50,000  men  engaged. 

While  waiting  for  some  definite  news  to  be  brought 
in  for  us,  we  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  high  tower  of  the 
market  next  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  for  a  look  at  the  battle 
line.  It  was  pretty  misty,  but  we  could  see  the  smoke 
of  shrapnel  and  of  the  big  shells  from  the  English  ships^ 
which  were  enfilading  the  German  right. 


A  JOURNAX  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    291 

The  staircase  up  this  tower  was  a  crazy  thing,  with 
rotten  steps  and  places  where  two  or  three  steps  were 
missing  altogether.  It  was  bad  enough  going  up 
where  we  could  take  hold  and  pull  ourselves  up,  but 
it  was  far  worse  going  do^\Ti,  because  we  were  ordered 
down  in  a  hurry  and  all  came  piling  dovm  in  a  steady 
stream.  There  were  squeaks  and  screams  at  the  bad 
moments,  but  we  did  manage  to  get  down  without  mis- 
hap and  take  stock  of  ourselves. 

We  found  some  German  prisoners  lying  on  the  straw 
in  the  entrance  hall,  and  stopped  to  speak  to  them. 
They  said  that  their  troops  were  very  tired  from  long, 
hard  fighting,  but  that  they  had  plenty  of  men.  They 
seemed  rather  depressed  themselves. 

By  the  time  we  got  dowTi,  our  information  had  come 
and  we  set  off  through  a  welter  of  transport  trains, 
artillery,  ambulances,  marching  troops,  and  goodness 

knows  what  else,  in  the  direction  of  X .     When  we 

got  within  a  couple  of  kilometers  of  the  place,  an  officer 
stopped  us  and  asked  if  we  knew  where  we  were  going. 
He  shrugged  his  shoulders  when  we  said  we  did,  and 
let  us  go  straight  mto  it.  W^hen  we  were  bowling  along 
about  one  kilometer  from  the  towTi,  three  shells  burst 
at  once,  about  two  hundred  yards  to  our  left,  and  we 
stopped  to  see  what  was  toward.  A  hundred  yards 
ahead  to  the  right  of  the  road  was  a  battery  of  five  big 
guns,  and  the  Germans  were  evidently  trying  to  get 
their  range.  The  shells  kept  falhng  to  the  left,  near 
a  group  of  farm-houses,  and  as  some  of  the  spent 
balls  of  shrapnel  kept  rolling  around  near  us,  we 
decided  we  might  as  well  go  and  see  the  big  guns  from 
nearer  to. 


292    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

In  the  shelter  of  the  farm-houses  were  fifty  or  sixty 
men,  some  of  them  cooking  their  lunch,  others  sleep- 
ing, all  quite  oblivious  of  the  roar  of  bursting  shrapnel 
and  the  spattering  of  the  bullets  near  by.  And  a  few 
months  ago  probably  any  of  these  men  would  have 
been  frightened  into  a  fit  by  a  shell  bursting  in  his 
neighbom-hood.  It  is  wonderful  how  soon  people  be- 
come contemptuous  of  danger.  The  horses  that  were 
tethered  by  the  roadside  seemed  to  take  it  all  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  munched  away  at  their  hay,  as 
though  all  the  world  were  at  peace.  A  wobbly  cart 
came  creaking  by  with  an  infantryman,  who  had  had 
a  good  part  of  liis  face  shot  away.  He  had  been 
bandaged  after  a  fashion  and  sat  up  blinking  at  us 
stupidly  as  the  cart  lumbered  by,  bumping  into  holes 
and  sliding  into  ruts. 

I  was  not  keen  on  staying  longer  than  was  necessary 

to  see  what  was  there,  but  W. -was  very  deliberate 

and  not  to  be  budged  for  more  than  half  an  hour.  We 
finally  got  him  started  by  calling  his  attention  to  the 
spent  balls,  which  make  a  tremendous  singing  noise, 
but  do  no  harm.  The  only  really  safe  thing  in  the 
neighbourhood  was  what  did  the  trick.  The  Germans 
were  making  a  furious  attack,  evidently  determined  to 
break  the  line  before  the  fresh  troops  could  be  brought 
up,  and  the  cannonading  was  terrific.  The  whole  front 
as  far  as  we  could  see  in  either  direction  was  a  line 
of  puffs  of  smoke  from  bursting  shrapnel  and  black 
spouts  of  earth  from  exploding  shells.  The  crackle  of 
the  mitrailleuses  rippled  up  and  down  the  whole  line. 
The  Belgians  were  pounding  back  as  hard  as  they 
could  and  the  noise  was  deafening.     Finally,  when  we 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  293 

decided  to  leave,  the  officer  in  command  of  the  battery 
loaded  all  five  guns  at  once  and  fired  a  salvo  for  our 
benefit.  The  great  shells  tore  away,  roaring  like  so 
many  express  trains,  and  screaming  like  beasts  in 
agony — a  terrifying  combination.  My  ears  ache  yet. 
It  was  getting  hotter  every  minute  and  the  Germans 
were  evidently  getting  a  better  idea  of  the  range,  for 
the  shells  began  falling  pretty  close  on  the  other  side, 
and  I  was  quieter  in  my  mind  when  we  went  back  to 
our  cars  and  pulled  out  of  the  actual  line.  We  took  a 
road  a  few  hundred  yards  back,  parallel  with  the  lines, 
and  drove  along  slowly,  watching  the  effect  of  the  shell 
fire,  until  we  absolutely  had  to  start  back  for  lunch. 
On  the  way  we  stopped  at  a  peasant's  hut,  and  said 
hello  to  Jack  Reyntiens. 

When  we  got  back  to  the  hotel,  about  half  an  hour 
late  for  lunch,  we  found  the  Prime  Minister  waiting 
for  us.  At  the  door,  in  addition  to  the  usual  sentry, 
there  were  two  privates  of  the  chasseurs  a  cheval,  one 
wearing  a  commander's  star  of  the  Legion  of  Plonor. 
They  saluted  and  smiled,  and  I  bowed  and  went  on  in 
to  my  meal.  They  came  in  after  me,  still  smiling,  and  I 
was  taxed  with  not  recognising  them.  They  were  the 
Due  d'Ursel  and  ,  the  heads  of  their  respec- 
tive houses,  who  had  enlisted,  and  are  still  fighting  as 
privates.  They  had  just  been  relieved  and  were  on 
their  way  to  the  rear,  where  the  Belgian  army  is  being 
reformed  and  rested. 

As  soon  as  we  had  got  through,  I  had  to  start  back 

for  my  audience  of  the  Queen.     W. took  me  out  to 

la  Pamie,  where  we  found  the  Villa  on  the  sand  dunes, 
a  httle  way  back  of  the  lines.     There  were  a  couple  of 


294    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

gendarmes  on  duty,  the  King's  Secretary,  and  the 
Countess  de  Caraman-Chimay,  the  one  Lady-in-Wait- 
ing.  I  had  just  got  mside  when  the  door  opened  and 
the  King  came  in.  He  had  heard  I  was  coming  to  see 
the  Queen  and  had  motored  down  from  Furnes.  I 
was  able  to  satisfy  him  in  a  few  minutes  on  the  points 
he  had  wanted  to  see  me  about  and  then  he  ques- 
tioned me  about  friends  in  Brussels.  I  suggested  to  him 
that  it  would  probably  help  our  committee  in  raising 
funds  if  he  would  write  an  appeal  for  help  from  America. 
He  fell  in  with  the  idea  at  once,  and  together  we  got 
out  an  appeal  that  is  to  be  sent  across  the  water. 
Where  we  sat  we  could  see  the  British  ships  shelling  the 
Germans,  and  the  windows  of  the  dining-room  were 
rattling  steadily.  The  King  stood  beside  the  table 
with  his  finger  tips  resting  on  the  cloth,  watching  the 
stuff  ground  out  word  by  word.  I  looked  up  at  him 
once,  but  could  not  bear  to  do  it  again — it  was  the 
saddest  face  one  can  imagine,  but  not  a  word  of  com- 
plaint was  breathed. 

Just  as  w^e  were  finishing,  the  Queen  came  and  bade 
us  in  to  tea.  She  was  supposed  to  wait  for  her  Lady- 
in-Waiting  to  bring  me,  but  didn't.  The  King  stayed 
only  a  minute  or  two  and  then  said  he  must  be  getting 
back  to  Headquarters,  where  he  would  see  me  later. 

I  suggested  to  the  Queen  that  she,  too,  make  an 
appeal  to  the  women  of  America,  to  which  she  agreed. 
Another  appeal  was  prepared  for  her,  and  it,  too,  will 
be  sent  to  America  by  the  first  post. 

The  Queen  had  wanted  to  see  me  about  the  subject 
of  surgeons  for  the  Belgian  army.  The  Belgian  sur- 
geons in  the  Brussels  hospitals  have  been  replaced  by 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    295 

Germans,  and  have  nothing  to  do,  although  they  are 
desperately  needed  here.  The  Queen  was  terribly  de- 
pressed about  the  condition  of  the  wounded.  There 
are  so  few  surgeons,  and  such  tremendous  numbers  of 
wounded,  that  they  cannot  by  any  possibility  be  prop- 
erly cared  for.  Legs  and  arms  are  being  ruthlessly 
amputated  in  hundreds  of  cases  where  they  could  be 
saved  by  a  careful  operation.  Careful  operations  are, 
of  course,  out  of  the  question,  with  the  wounded  being 
dumped  in  every  minute  by  the  score.  Li  these  little 
frontier  towns  there  are  no  hospital  facilities  to  speak 
of,  and  the  poor  devils  are  lucky  if  they  get  a  bed  of 
straw  under  any  sort  of  roof,  and  medical  attendance, 
within  twenty -four  hours.  We  went  to  see  one  hos- 
pital in  a  near-by  Villa,  and  I  hope  I  shall  never  again 
have  to  go  through  such  an  ordeal.  Such  suffering 
and  such  lack  of  comforts  I  have  never  seen,  but  I  take 
off  my  hat  to  the  nerve  of  the  wounded,  and  the  nurses, 
most  of  them  the  best  class  of  Belgian  women,  used  to 
every  luxury  and  getting  none. 

The  Queen  gave  me  tea,  and  one  of  her  small  supply 
of  cigarettes,  and  we  talked  until  after  dark.  The 
monitors  off  shore  had  been  joined  by  a  battleship,  and 
the  row  was  terrific  and  rendered  conversation  difficult. 

The  Queen  was  still  full  of  courage  and  said  that  as 
long  as  there  was  one  square  foot  of  Belgian  soil  free 
of  Germans,  she  would  be  on  it.  She  said  it  simply,  in 
answer  to  a  question  from  me,  but  there  was  a  big 
force  of  courage  and  determination  behind  it.  As  I 
was  not  dismissed,  I  finally  took  it  on  myself  to  go, 
and  the  Queen  came  with  me  to  the  door  and  sent  me 
on  my  way.     She  stood  in  the  lighted  doorway  until 


296    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

I  reached  the  motor,  and  then  turned  slowly  and  went 
in — a  deHcate  little  woman  with  a  hon's  heart.  Ingle- 
bleek  and  the  Countess  de  Caraman-Chimay  came  out 
after  we  had  cranked  the  car,  and  gave  me  messages 
for  their  famihes  and  friends.  It  is  a  pretty  hard 
change  for  these  people,  who  three  months  ago  were 
leading  such  a  dull,  comfortable  hfe,  but  they  have 
risen  to  it  with  fine  spirit. 

The  King  was  with  his  staff,  studying  the  maps  and 
despatches,  when  I  got  to  Furnes,  and  I  was  shown 
the  whole  situation — ^most  interesting  on  the  large 
scale  maps  that  show  every  farm-house  and  pathway. 
I  was  to  go  back  to  Dunkerque  w4th  Monsieur  de 
Broqueville,  so  waited  while  they  discussed  the  events 
of  the  day  and  plans  for  to-morrow. 

While  they  talked  reinforcements  were  pouring 
through  the  town,  with  great  rumbling  of  artillery  and 
blowing  of  trumpets.  It  was  a  comforting  sound,  as  it 
presaged  some  rehef  for  the  Belgians  in  their  heart- 
breaking stand. 

There  was  comfort  in  riding  back  through  the  night 
with  the  Prime  Minister,  for  there  was  no  long  exami- 
nation of  papers,  etc.  When  we  came  to  a  post,  the 
aide-de-camp  would  switch  on  a  strong  hght  in  the 
car,  the  sentries  would  salute,  and  on  we  would  go  at 
a  great  gait. 

Seemingly  I  was  boarding  with  Monsieur  de  Broque- 
ville, as  I  was  led  back  to  dine  with  him. 

To-morrow  I  am  off  to  London.  Loewenstein,  a 
young  Brussels  banker,  is  to  take  me  over  in  his  racing 
car,  which  is  a  useful  institution  these  days.  We  take 
along  his  mother-in-law,  Madame  Misonne,  and  A.  B. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    297 

It  means  getting  up  at  five  to  motor  to  Calais  to  catch 
the  boat.  There  the  car  will  be  slung  aboard,  so  that 
we  can  be  whisked  up  to  London  without  waiting  for 
a  train. 

On  hoard  S.S.  ''Orange  Nassau,^  North  Sea,  No- 
vember 2,  IdlJi, — On  Friday  morning  we  were  called 
before  dawn,  and  got  under  way  as  per  schedule — 
Loewenstein,  Madame  Misonne,  A.  B.,  and  I.  We 
made  good  time,  over  slippery  roads,  to  Calais,  despite 
frequent  stops  to  have  our  papers  examined  by  posts, 
and  got  to  the  dock  some  twenty  minutes  before  the 
steamer  sailed.  The  car  was  hoisted  aboard,  and  we 
rode  across  in  it.  Frederick  Palmer  was  on  board, 
returning  in  disgust  after  having  been  just  that  far 
toward  the  front. 

Our  suicide  wagon  was  swung  off  onto  the  dock  with- 
out loss  of  time,  and  we  sped  away  toward  London 
while  our  fellow-passengers  were  doomed  to  wait  for 
all  sorts  of  formalities.  It  was  a  wild  ride.  At  times 
we  were  doing  as  high  as  one  hundred  and  thirty  kilo- 
meters an  hour  over  winding  EngHsh  roads,  and  I  was 
somewhat  relieved  when  I  was  dropped  at  the  Embassy, 
safe  and  sound. 

I  got  off  some  telegrams  about  my  trip,  and  was  told 
the  Ambassador  wanted  to  see  me.  Hoover  was  with 
him,  and  I  turned  over  to  them  the  appeals  from  the 
King  and  Queen. 

Jack  Scran  ton  decided  to  come  back  to  Brussels  with 
me,  to  give  me  a  hand  in  Legation  work,  and  spent  the 
morning  packing  enough  plunder  to  see  him  through 
a  siege  of  three  or  four  years.  A.  B.  came  on  to  Lon- 
don to  see  her  brother  who  is  seriously  wounded  and  in 


298    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

hospital.  Now  her  family  want  her  to  return  to 
Brussels  aud  have  placed  her  in  my  care  for  the 
journey. 

This  morning  we  had  a  crowd  at  the  station  to  see  us 
off.  Countess  N. ^has  also  come  along,  and  was  en- 
trusted to  our  care.  A.  B.'s  family  was  there  in  force 
to  say  good-bye,  so  altogether  the  casual  observer 
might  have  inferred  that  we  were  popular. 

Brussels,  November  5th, — ^We  were  met  in  Flushing 
by  our  Consular  Agent,  who  put  us  through  the  cus- 
toms and  onto  the  train. 

No  motor  was  waiting  for  us  at  Rosendaal,  and  we 
had  a  hard  time  getting  shelter  for  the  night.  Finally 
we  succeeded  in  getting  a  room  for  the  two  women  in  a 
httle,  third-rate  hotel,  and  Jack  and  I  slept  on  the 
floor  of  a  sitting-room  in  the  little  Hotel  Central.  I 
was  so  dog-tired  that  I  slept  like  a  log,  wrapped  up  in 
my  fur  coat. 

While  we  were  having  coffee,  M.  de  Leval  came  up  in 
my  little  car.  He  had  been  to  Rotterdam  in  connection 
with  the  first  shipment  of  food,  and  thought  he  would 
find  me  alone.  He  had  bought  a  lot  of  gasoline  in 
Breda,  to  be  called  for,  so  we  could  take  no  luggage. 
We  found  another  car  leaving  for  Brussels  at  noon, 

and  loaded   it  up  with  Countess  N., ^Jack  and  the 

luggage,  while  M.  de  L.  and  I  took  A.  B.  and  the  mail 
bags,  and  started  by  way  of  Breda.  We  came  through 
Aerschot  and  stopped  for  a  stretch  and  to  look  about. 

We  walked  about  the  streets  for  a  time,  and  stopped 
in  a  shop  to  ask  for  a  drink  of  water.  After  giving  it 
to  us,  the  proprietor  asked  if  we  would  like  to  see  the 


4".-  (/rU 


A 


um^*K 


/ 


/^ 


An  improvised  pass,  written  on  the  back  of  a  wine  card,  to 
enable  Mr.  Gibson  to  pass  through  the  streets  after  dark  on 
his  way  to  German  headquarters  at  Liege 


nio'ojraph  by  Paul  Thompson 


General  Baron  von  Bissing,  Governor-General  in  Belgium 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    299 

state  the  Germans  had  left  things  in.  He  led  us  back 
into  his  hving  quarters,  opened  a  door  bearing  an  in- 
scription to  the  effect  that  it  was  an  officers'  mess,  and 
let  us  in.  I  never  have  seen  a  more  complete  mess. 
Everything  in  the  place  was  smashed,  and  the  whole 
room  was  filthy.  The  officers  had  left  only  a  few  days 
before  and  had  taken  pains  to  break  everything  before 
they  went.  Obscene  remarks  were  chalked  on  the 
walls,  and  the  pictures  were  improved  with  heavy 
attempts  at  fun.  I  always  used  to  thmk  that  the  term 
"officer  and  gentleman"  was  redmidant,  but  now  I 
begin  to  understand  the  need  for  it. 

The  church  was  also  in  a  bad  state.  The  doors  have 
nearly  all  been  battered  down.  The  wooden  Gothic 
statues  in  the  nave  have  been  smashed  or  destroyed 
by  fire.  The  altars  and  confessionals  were  wantonly 
destroyed.  The  collection  boxes  had  been  pried  open 
and  emptied.  We  were  told  that  the  holy-water  font 
and  the  vestments  of  the  priests  had  been  profaned 
and  befouled.     It  is  not  a  pretty  sight. 

Aerschot  was  partially  destroyed  on  August  19th 
and  20th.  The  Germans  claim  that  their  commanding 
officer  was  shot  by  the  son  of  the  Burgomaster.  The 
Belgians  claim  that  he  was  struck  by  a  stray  bullet 
fired  at  random  by  one  of  his  own  men  in  the  market- 
place. However  that  may  be,  the  whole  place  was 
instantly  in  an  uproar,  and  quiet  was  not  restored  until 
the  town  had  been  sacked  and  over  one  hundred  and 
fifty  people  killed,  among  them  women  and  children. 
The  Burgomaster  and  his  son  and  a  priest  were  among 
those  shot  and  buried  outside  the  Louvain  gate.  One 
of  those  taken  to  the  place  of  execution  was  spared  on 


300    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

condition  that  he  should  go  to  Louvain  to  tell  of  what 
had  happened. 

Louvain  has  been  cleaned  up  a  lot,  and  we  stopped 
there  only  long  enough  to  have  our  passes  examined  at 
Headquarters,  getting  back  a  little  before  six  to  a  warm 
welcome. 

The  other  motor  was  due  at  six,  but  did  not  come, 
and  after  waiting  up  till  midnight,  I  turned  in.  Jack 
bobbed  up  yesterday  at  noon.  The  car  had  been 
stopped  at  the  frontier  because  several  of  the  passengers 
had  not  proper  papers.  Jack  threw  out  his  chest  and 
insisted  on  being  taken  to  Antwerp  to  see  the  Military 
Governor.  His  passport,  as  bearer  of  despatches,  did 
the  business,  and  they  w^ere  allow^ed  to  proceed  under 
armed   guard.      They    were    kept    overnight   in    the 

Hotel  Webber,  and  then  Jack  and  Mme.  N were 

allowed  to  come  on  to  Brussels  in  the  car,  while  the 
others  were  detained. 

Marshal  Langhorne  came  in  to-day  from  The  Hague 
to  effect  formal  delivery  of  the  first  bargeload  of 
food,  and  had  weird  tales  to  tell  of  his  adventures  by 
the  way.  Thank  goodness,  the  first  of  the  food  has 
arrived  in  time,  and  if  the  flow  can  be  kept  up,  the 
worst  of  our  troubles  will  be  averted. 

With  this  first  consignment  of  food  came  the  story 
of  how  it  was  got  through  in  such  record  time.  Hoover 
is  one  of  these  people  who  is  inclined  to  get  things 
done  and  attend  later  to  such  details  as  getting  formal 
permission,   etc. 

With  Shaler's  forty  thousand  pounds  and  promises 
of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  more,  he  went  to 
work  and  placed  orders  for  twenty  thousand  tons  of 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    301 

food,  costing  two  million  dollars  a  week.  This  he  did 
on  the  theory  that  money  would  come  along  later,  when 
the  need  was  realised,  but  that  the  Belgian  stomachs 
would  not  wait  until  collections  had  been  made.  He 
purchased  the  food,  got  it  transported  to  the  docks, 
and  loaded  on  vessels  that  he  had  contrived  to  charter, 
while  all  the  world  was  fighting  for  tonnage,  got  them 
loaded  and  the  hatches  closed. 

When  everything  was  ready.  Hoover  went  to  the 
proper  authority  and  asked  for  permission  to  ship  the 
food,  announcing  that  unless  he  could  get  four  ship- 
loads of  food  into  Belgium  by  the  end  of  the  week,  the 
people  would  begin  to  starve.  The  functionary  was 
sympathetic,  but  regretted  that  in  the  circumstances, 
he  could  not  help.  It  was  out  of  the  question  to 
purchase  food.  The  railw^ays  were  choked  with  troops, 
mmiitions  and  supplies.  Ships  were  not  to  be  had  for 
love  or  money.  And  above  all,  the  Channel  was  closed 
to  commerce. 

Hoover  heard  him  patiently  to  the  end. 

"I  have  attended  to  all  this,"  he  said.  "The  ships 
are  already  loaded  and  ready  to  sail.  All  I  need  from 
you  is  clearance  papers.  You  can  let  me  have  them, 
and  everything  will  be  all  right." 

The  high  official  could  hardly  believe  his  ears: 

"Young  man,"  he  gasped,  "perhaps  you  don't 
realise  what  you  have  done.  Men  have  been  sent  to 
the  Tower  for  less.  If  it  were  for  any  other  cause,  I 
hesitate  to  think  what  would  happen  to  you.  But 
as  it  is,  I  can  only  congratulate  you  on  some  very 
good  work." 

And  that's  how  we  got  our  food  in  time. 


302    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Fines  are  being  imposed  on  towns  on  one  pretext 
or  another.  The  other  day  two  pohcemen  got  into 
a  controversy  with  a  German  secret-service  agent  who 
did  not  explain  who  he  was,  and  got  a.  good  thumping 
for  doing  various  things  that  a  civihan  had  no  business 
to  do.  This  morning  von  Luttwitz  comes  out  with 
this  proclamation: 

On  the  28th  of  October,  1914,  a  legally  constituted  court 
martial  pronounced  the  following  sentences: 

(1)  The  policeman  De  Ryckere  for  having  attacked,  in  the 
legal  exercise  of  his  duties,  an  authorised  agent  of  the  German 
Government,  for  having  deliberately  inflicted  bodily  hurt  in  two 
instances  with  the  aid  of  other  persons,  for  having  aided  in  the 
escape  of  a  prisoner  and  for  having  attacked  a  German  soldier, 
was  condemned  to  five  years'  imprisonment. 

(2)  The  policeman  Seghers  for  having  attacked,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  legal  duties,  an  authorised  agent  of  the  German  Govern- 
ment, for  having  deliberately  inflicted  bodily  hurt  on  this  German 
agent,  and  for  having  aided  the  escape  of  a  prisoner  (all  these 
offences  constituting  one  charge),  was  condemned  to  three  years' 
imprisonment. 

The  sentences  were  confirmed  on  October  31st  by  the  Governor- 
General,  Baron  von  der  Goltz. 

The  city  of  Brussels,  not  including  its  suburbs,  has  been  punished 
for  the  injury  by  its  policeman  De  Ryckere  to  a  German  soldier, 
by  an  additional  fine  of  Five  Million  Francs. 

The  Governor  of  Brussels, 
Brussels,  November  1,  1914.  Baron  von  Luttwitz, 

General. 

Last  night  we  dined  at  Ctesse.  N 's  to  celebrate 

everybody's  safe  return. 

Brussels,  Sunday,  November  8,  1911^. — ^Barges  of  food 
are  beginning  to  come  in,  and  we  have  the  place  filled 
with  people   with   real  business   concerning   the   food 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    303 

and  a  lot  of  the  usual  *' halo-grabbers"  anxious  to  give 
advice  or  edge  into  some  sort  of  non -working  position 
where  they  can  reap  a  little  credit. 

We  are  put  on  German  time  to-day. 

On  November  4th  the  Governor-General  came  out 
with  a  proclamation  ordering  that  German  money  be 
accepted  in  all  business  transactions.  It  is  to  have 
forced  currency  at  the  rate  of  one  mark  to  one  franc, 
twenty -five  centimes.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  really 
worth  about  one  franc,  seven  centimes,  and  can  be 
bought  at  that  rate  in  Holland  or  Switzerland,  where 
people  are  glad  enough  to  get  rid  of  their  German 
money.  Any  shop  refusing  to  accept  German  paper 
money  at  the  stipulated  rate  is  to  be  immediately 
closed,  according  to  the  Governor's  threat. 

Brussels,  November  9,  1914. — ^Late  in  the  afternoon 
Jack  and  I  took  Max  for  a  run  in  the  Bois.  Wliile  we 
were  going  across  one  of  the  broad  stretches  of  lawni, 
an  officer  on  horseback  passed  us,  accompanied  by 
a  mounted  orderly.  To  our  surprise  the  orderly  drew 
his  revolver  and  began  waving  it  at  us,  shouting  at 

the  same  time  that  if  that dog  came  any 

nearer,  he  would  shoot  him  down.  The  officer  paid  no 
attention,  but  rode  on  ahead.  I  started  after  them  on  foot, 
but  they  began  to  trot  and  left  me  in  the  lurch.  I  ran 
back  to  the  motor,  overtook  them,  and  placed  the  car 
across  their  path.  The  officer  motioned  his  orderly 
to  go  ahead,  and  then  let  me  tackle  him.  He  took 
the  high  ground  that  I  had  no  reason  to  complain 
since  the  dog  had  not  actually  been  shot,  not  seeming 
to  reahze  that  peaceable  civihans  might  have  legiti- 


304    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

mate  objections  to  the  promiscuous  waving  of  revol- 
vers. He  declined  to  give  his  name  or  that  of  the  soldier, 
and  I  gave  up  and  let  him  ride  on  after  expressing 
some  unflattering  opinions  of  him  and  his  kind  to 
the  delight  of  the  crowd  that  had  gathered.  They  did 
not  dare  say  anything  direct,  but  as  I  got  back  into 
the  car  they  set  up  a  loud  ''Vive  VAmerique''  The 
officer  looked  peevish  and  rode  away  very  stiff  and 
haughty.  Of  course,  since  he  refused  to  give  his  name, 
there  was  no  getting  at  him,  and  I  was  free  to  be  as 
indignant  as  I  liked. 

The  Germans  are  tightening  up  on  the  question  of 
travel  in  the  occupied  territory,  and  we  are  now 
engaged  in  a  disagreeable  row  with  them  over  passes 
for  the  Legation  cars.  They  want  to  limit  us  in  all 
sorts  of  ways  that  make  no  difference  to  them,  but 
cut  doTVTi  our  comfort.  They  will  probably  end  by 
giving  us  what  they  want;  but  when  it  is  all  done  we 
shall  have  no  feehng  of  obhgation,  having  been  forced 
to  fight  for  it. 

Brussels,  November  H,  19H, — On  the  morning  of  the 
10th,  I  came  down  to  the  Legation  and  found  things 
in  an  uproar.  A  telegram  had  been  received  saying 
that  two  trainloads  of  food,  the  first  shipment  for  the 
Province  of  Liege,  w^ould  cross  the  frontier  in  the 
course  of  the  afternoon,  under  convoy  of  Captain 
Sunderland,  our  Military  Attache  at  The  Hague.  The 
Minister  and  I  are  the  only  people  authorized  to  receive 
shipments;  and,  as  no  power  of  attorney  had  been  sent 
to  the  Consul  at  Liege,  things  were  in  a  nice  mess; 
and,  at  the  request  of  the  German  authorities  and  the 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    305 

Committee,  it  was  decided  that  I  should  go  down, 
receive  the  stuff  and  make  arrangements  for  its  pro- 
tection and  for  the  reception  of  future  shipments. 
The  German  authorities  were  so  excited  about  my 
being  there  to  head  off  any  trouble  that  they  hustled 
me  off  on  an  hour's  notice  without  any  lunch.  I  con- 
trived to  get  Jack's  name  put  on  the  laisser-passer, 
so  that  he  could  go  along  and  see  a  little  something 
of  the  country.  Joseph,  the  Legation  butler,  was  wild 
to  go  along  as  far  as  his  native  village  to  see  his  aged 
ma,  whom  he  had  not  seen  since  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  and  he  rode  on  the  front  seat  with  Max  who  was 
much  delighted  to  get  under  way  again. 

Jack  was  thrilled  with  the  trip,  and  nearly  fell  out 
of  the  car  going  through  Louvain  and  the  other  ruined 
villages  along  the  way.  As  we  were  in  such  a  rush,  I 
could  not  stop  to  show  him  very  much;  but  in  most  of 
these  places  no  guide  is  needed.  Louvain  has  been 
cleared  up  to  a  remarkable  extent,  and  the  streets 
between  the  ruined  houses  are  neat  and  clean.  On 
my  other  trips  I  had  had  to  go  around  by  way  of 
Namur,  but  this  time  we  went  direct;  and  I  got  my 
first  glimpse  of  Tirlemont  and  St.  Trond,  etc. 

When  we  reached  Liege  we  went  straight  to  the 
Consulate  without  pausing  to  set  ourselves  up  at  a 
hotel,  but  found  that  nothing  was  known  of  Captain 
Sunderland  or  his  food  trains.  Thence  to  the  German 
headquarters  where  we  ia quired  at  all  the  oflfices  in 
turn  and  found  that  the  gentleman  had  not  been  heard 
from.  By  the  time  we  got  through  our  inquiries  it 
was  dark;  and,  as  we  had  no  laisser-passer  to  be  out 
after  dark,  we  had  to  scuttle  back  to  the  hotel  and  stay. 


306    A  JOURNAL  FROINI  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

In  the  morning  the  Consul  and  I  started  off  again  to 
see  what  had  become  of  our  man.  We  went  through 
all  the  offices  again,  and  as  we  were  about  to  give  up, 
I  found  Renner,  who  used  to  be  Military  Attache  of 
the  German  Legation  here,  and  is  now  Chief  of  Staff 
to  the  Military  Governor.  He  cleared  up  the  mystery. 
Sunderland  had  arrived  about  the  same  time  I  did,  but 
had  been  taken  in  hand  by  some  staff  officers,  dined 
at  their  mess,  and  kept  busy  until  time  for  him  to  be 
off  for  Maestricht.  He  was,  however,  expected  back 
in  time  to  lunch  at  the  officers'  mess.  He  was  also 
expected  to  dine  with  them  in  the  evening.  I  left  word 
that  I  wanted  to  see  him  and  made  off  to  get  in  touch 
with  the  members  of  the  local  committee  and  make 
arrangements  as  to  what  was  to  be  done  with  the  food. 
We  sat  and  waited  until  nearly  dark,  when  I  decided 
to  go  out  for  a  httle  spin.  I  gathered  Jack  and  the 
Consular  family  into  the  car  and  went  for  a  short 
spin. 

After  losing  our  way  a  couple  of  times  we  brought  up 
at  the  Fort  of  Chaudefontaine,  which  was  demoHshed 
by  the  Germans.  It  is  on  top  of  a  veritable  moimtain 
and  it  took  us  some  time  to  work  our  way  up  on  the 
winding  road.  When  we  got  there  the  soldiers  on 
guard  made  no  trouble  and  told  us  that  we  could  mouse 
around  for  fifteen  minutes.  We  walked  out  to  the 
earthworks,  which  had  been  made  by  the  Belgians  and 
strengthened  by  the  Germans,  and  then  took  a  look 
at  the  fort  itself,  which  was  destroyed,  and  has  since 
been  reconstructed  by  the  Germans.  They  must  have 
had  the  turrets  and  cupolas  already  built  and  ready 
to  ship  to  Liege,  for  the  forts  are  stronger  than  they 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    307 

ever  were  before  and  will  probably  offer  a  solid  resis- 
tance when  the  tide  swings  back,  unless,  of  course,  the 
alHes  have  by  that  time  some  of  the  big  guns  that  will 
drop  shells  vertically  and  destroy  these  works  the  way 
the  German  42's  destroyed  their  predecessors.  It  was 
very  interesting  to  see  and  hard  to  reahse  that  up  to 
three  months  ago  this  sort  of  thing  was  considered 
practically  impregnable. 

When  we  got  back  we  found  that  our  man  had  come 
and  had  left  word  that  he  could  be  found  at  the  Cafe 
du  Phare  at  six  o'clock.  We  made  straight  for  that 
place,  and  found  him.  I  made  an  appointment  with 
him  for  the  first  thing  next  morning,  and  went  my  way. 

I  was  bid  to  dine  with  the  German  Mihtary  Governor 
and  his  staff,  but  told  Renner  that  since  we  were 
accredited  here  to  the  Belgian  Government,  accepting 
German  hospitahty  would  certainly  be  considered  as  an 
affront.  He  saw  the  point,  and  did  not  take  offence, 
but  asked  me  to  come  over  after  dinner  for  a  talk  and 
bring  Jack  along,  the  which  I  promised  to  do.  While 
we  were  dining,  a  soldier  with  a  rifle  on  his  shoulder 
strode  into  the  dining-room  and  handed  me  a  paper; 
great  excitement,  as  everybody  thought  we  had  been 
arrested.  The  paper  was  a  pass  for  us  to  circulate  on 
the  streets  after  dark,  so  that  we  could  go  over  to  the 
headquarters.  It  was  written  on  the  back  of  a  menu 
in  pencil.  Although  dinner  was  over  the  entire  mess 
was  still  gathered  about  the  table  discussing  beer  and 
Weltpolitik.  At  the  head  of  the  table  was  Excellenz 
Lieutenant-General  von  Somethingorother,  who  was 
commanding  a  German  army  on  the  eastern  front 
when  they  got  within  fifteen  miles  of  Warsaw.     After 


308    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

being  driven  back  he  had  an  official  "nervous  break- 
do^vn,"  and  was  sent  here  as  Governor  of  the  Province 
of  Liege — quite  a  descent,  and  enough  to  cause  a  ner- 
vous breakdown.  There  was  another  old  chap  who 
had  fought  in  the  Franco-Prussian  war  and  had  not  yet 
quite  caught  up  with  this  one.  I  foregathered  with 
Renner  and  got  my  shop  talk  done  in  a  very  short 
time.  Then  everybody  set  to  to  explain  to  us  about 
the  war  and  what  they  fought  each  other  for.  It  was 
very  interesting  to  get  the  point  of  view,  and  we  stayed 
on  imtil  nearly  midnight,  tramping  home  through  a 
tremendous  downpour,  which  soaked  us. 

The  next  morning  at  eleven  I  met  Sunderland.  We 
saw  the  Governor  and  the  Mayor  and  Echevins, 
and  talked  things  out  at  length.  I  had  to  collect  a 
part  of  the  cost  of  the  food  before  I  could  turn  it  over, 
and  they  explained  that  the  chairman  of  the  local  com- 
mittee had  gone  to  Brussels  to  negotiate  a  loan;  he 
w^ould  be  back  in  four  or  five  days  and  if  I  would  just 
wait,  they  would  settle  everything  beautifully.  That 
did  not  please  me,  so  I  suggested  in  my  usual  simple 
and  direct  way  that  the  Governor  rob  the  safe  and  pay 
me  with  provincial  funds,  trusting  to  be  paid  later  by 
the  committee.  It  took  some  little  argument  to  con- 
vince him,  but  he  had  good  nerve,  and  by  half-past 
twelve  he  brought  forth  275,000  francs  in  bank-notes 
and  handed  them  over  to  me  for  a  receipt.  Sticking 
this  into  my  pocket,  I  made  ready  to  get  under  way, 
but  there  w^as  nothing  for  it  but  that  I  must  lunch  with 
them  all.  Finally  I  accepted,  on  the  understanding 
that  it  would  be  short  and  that  I  could  get  away 
immediately  afterward.     That  was  not  definite  enough, 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    309 

however,  for  we  sat  at  table  until  four  o'clock  and  then 
listened  to  some  speeches. 

When  we  got  down  the  home  stretch,  the  Governor 
arose  and  made  a  very  neat  little  speech,  thank- 
ing us  for  what  we  had  done  to  get  food  to  the  people 
of  Liege,  and  expressing  gratitude  to  the  American 
Government  and  people,  etc.  I  responded  in  remarks 
of  almost  record  shortness,  and  as  soon  as  possible 
afterward,  we  got  away  through  the  rain  to  Brussels. 

After  getting  through  that  elaborate  luncheon,  get- 
ting our  things  ready  at  the  hotel,  paying  our  bill, 
saying  good-bye  all  around  once  more,  etc.,  it  was 
nearly  five  o'clock  when  we  got  off  and  nearly  eight 
when  we  reached  Brussels  and  put  our  treasure  in  the 
safe. 

The  Germans  have  begun  arresting  British  civihans 
and  we  have  had  our  hands  full  dealing  with  poor  peo- 
ple who  don't  want  to  be  arrested  and  kept  in  prison 
until  the  end  of  the  war  and  can't  quite  imderstand 
why  they  have  to  put  up  with  it.  It  is  pretty  tough, 
but  just  another  of  the  hardships  of  the  war,  and  while 
we  are  doing  our  best  to  have  the  treatment  of  these 
people  made  as  lenient  as  possible,  we  can't  save  them. 

Brussels,  November  16,  1914. — Some  more  excite- 
ment yesterday  morning,  when  various  British  sub- 
jects were  arrested. 

Two  German  civilians  tried  to  force  their  way  into 
the  British  Consulate  and  arrest  Mr.  Jeffes,  the  British 
Consul,  and  his  son,  although  the  American  flag  was 
flying  over  the  door  and  there  was  a  sign  posted  to  the 
effect  that  the  place  was  under  our  protection  and  all 


310    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

business  should  be  transacted  with  us.  Fortunately 
Nasmith  was  there,  and  after  trying  to  explain  the 
matter  politely,  he  made  for  the  two  men,  threw  them 
into  the  street,  and  bolted  the  door.  The  gum-shoe 
men  were  so  surprised  that  they  went  away  and  have 
not  been  back.  Last  night  I  was  called  around  to  the 
Consulate  and  found  two  more  men  shadowing  the 
place.  There  seemed  to  be  no  danger  of  arrest,  but 
Nasmith  spent  the  night  there,  and  this  morning  I 
went  around  and  took  the  Jeffes  to  our  Consulate,  so 
that  if  any  attempt  was  made  to  take  them,  we  should 
have  an  opportunity  to  protest.  The  higher  authori- 
ties had  promised  not  to  seize  them,  but  apparently 
you  can  never  tell. 

Yesterday  was  the  King's  Saint's  Day,  and  word 
was  passed  around  that  there  would  be  a  special  mass 
at  Ste.  Gudule.  Just  before  it  was  to  begin,  the  miU- 
tary  authorities  sent  around  and  forbade  the  service. 
The  Grand  Marshal  of  the  Court  opened  the  King's 
book  at  his  house,  so  that  we  could  all  go  around  and 
sign,  as  in  ordinary  times,  for  we  are  accredited  to  the 
King  of  the  Belgians,  but  early  in  the  morning  an 
officer  arrived  and  confiscated  the  book.  The  Gov- 
ernment of  Occupation  seems  to  be  mighty  busy  doing 
pin-head  things  for  people  who  have  a  war  on  their 
hands. 

Countess  de  Buisseret's  little  boy  was  playing  on  the 
street  yesterday  when  the  German  troops  passed  by. 
Being  a  frightful  and  dangerous  criminal,  he  imitated 
their  goose-step  and  was  arrested.  M.  de  Leval  went 
around  to  headquarters  to  see  what  could  be  done, 
supposing,  of  course,  that  when  it  was  seen  what  a  child 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    311 

he  was,  his  release  would  be  ordered.  Instead,  he  was 
told  seriously  that  the  youngster  must  be  punished  and 
would  be  left  in  jail  for  some  days. 

Brussels,  November  18,  1914. — ^This  is  another  day 
of  disgust.  This  morning  one  of  the  servants  of  the 
Golf  Club  came  in  to  say  that  there  were  fifty  German 
soldiers  looting  the  place.  In  the  afternoon  Jack  and 
I  went  out  for  a  look  at  the  place  and  to  get  my  clubs. 
We  foimd  a  lot  of  soldiers  under  command  of  a  cor- 
poral. They  had  cleaned  the  place  out  of  food,  wine, 
linen,  silver,  and  goodness  knows  what  else.  Florimont, 
the  steward,  had  been  arrested  because  he  would  not 
tell  them  which  of  the  English  members  of  the  club  had 
gone  away  and  where  the  others  were  staying.  Having 
spent  his  time  at  the  club,  the  fact  was  that  he  did  not 
know  who  was  still  in  town  and  could  not  tell,  but  the 
Germans  could  not  be  convinced  of  this  and  have  made 
him  prisoner. 

I  stopped  at  headquarters  this  afternoon  to  see  von 
der  Lancken.  As  I  came  out  a  fine  Rolls-Royce 
limousine  drew  up  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street — a 
military  car.  The  chauffeur,  in  backing  out,  caught 
and  tore  the  sleeve  of  his  coat.  In  a  rage,  he  slammed 
the  door  and  planted  a  tremendous  kick  in  the  middle 
of  the  panel  with  his  heavy  boot.  I  stood  agape  and 
watched.  He  looked  up,  caught  me  looking. at  him, 
and  turned  his  anger  from  the  motor  to  me.  He  put 
his  hands  on  his  hips,  shot  out  his  jaw  and  glared  at 
me.  Then  he  began  walking  toward  me  across  the 
street  in  heavy- villain  steps,  glaring  all  the  time.  He 
stopped  just  in  front  of  me,  his  face  twitching  with  rage, 


312    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

evidently  ready  to  do  something  cataclysmic.  Then 
the  heavens  opened,  and  a  tremendous  roar  came 
from  across  the  street.  The  officer  to  whom  the 
car  belonged  had  seen  the  display  of  temper  from  his 
window,  and  had  run  out  to  express  his  views.  The 
soldier  did  a  Genee  toe-spin  and  stood  at  attention, 
while  his  superior  cursed  him  in  the  most  stupendous 
w  ay.  I  was  glad  to  be  saved  and  to  have  such  a  display 
of  fireworks  into  the  bargain. 

November  19th. — One  day  is  like  another  in  its 
cussedness. 

The  Germans  have  been  hounding  the  British  Lega- 
tion and  Consulate,  and  we  have  had  to  get  excited 
about  it.  Then  they  announced  to  the  Dutch  Charge 
that  our  courier  could  no  longer  go — that  everything 
would  have  to  be  sent  by  German  field  post.  You 
would  think  that  after  the  amount  of  hard  work  we 
have  done  for  the  protection  of  German  interests  and 
the  scrupulous  way  in  which  we  have  used  any  privileges 
we  have  been  accorded,  they  would  exert  themselves 
to  make  our  task  as  easy  as  possible  and  show  us  some 
confidence.  On  the  contrary,  they  treat  us  as  we  would 
be  ashamed  to  treat  our  enemies. 

This  morning  it  was  snowing  beautifully  when  I 
woke  up,  a  light,  dry  snow  that  lay  on  the  ground. 
It  has  been  coming  down  gently  all  day  and  the  town 
is  a  lovely  sight,  but  I  can't  get  out  of  my  mind  the 
thought  of  those  poor  beggars  out  in  the  trenches. 
It  seems  wicked  to  be  comfortable  before  a  good  fire 
with  those  millions  of  men  suffering  as  they  are  out 
at  the  front. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    313 

And  now  Grant-Watson*  has  been  put  in  prison. 
He  stayed  on  here  after  the  Minister  left,  to  attend 
to  various  matters,  and  was  here  when  the  Germans 
arrived.  Recently  we  have  been  trying  to  arrange 
for  passports,  so  that  he  and  Felix  Jeffes,  the  Vice- 
Consul,  might  return  to  England.  The  authorities 
were  seemingly  unable  to  make  up  their  minds  as  to 
what  should  be  done,  but  assured  the  Minister  that 
both  men  would  be  allowed  to  return  to  England  or 
to  remain  quietly  in  Brussels.  On  Friday,  however, 
the  Germans  changed  their  minds  and  did  not  let  a 
little  thing  Uke  their  word  of  honour  stand  in  the 
way. 

The  Minister  was  asked  to  bring  Grant-Watson  to 
headquarters  to  talk  things  over — ^nothing  more.  'When 
they  got  there,  it  was  smilingly  announced  that  Grant- 
Watson  was  to  leave  for  Berlin  on  the  seven  o'clock 
train,  which  put  us  in  the  position  of  having  lured  him 
to  prison.  The  Minister  protested  vigorously,  and 
finally  Grant- Watson  was  put  on  parole  and  allowed 
to  return  to  the  Legation,  to  remain  there  until  eleven 
o'clock  yesterday  morning.  I  went  over  the  first  thing 
in  the  morning  to  help  him  get  ready  for  his  stay  in  jail. 
At  eleven  Conrad  arrived  in  a  motor  with  Monsieur 
de  Leval.  We  went  out  and  got  in,  and  drove  in  state 
to  the  Ecole  Militaire,  and,  although  I  was  boiling 
with  rage  at  the  entire  performance,  I  could  not  help 
seeing  some  fun  in  it. 

Grant-Watson's  butler  was  ordered  to  be  ready  to  go 
at  the  same  time.  At  the  last  minute  the  butler  came 
down    and    said    perfectly    seriously    that    he    would 


*  Second  Secretary  of  the  British  Legation  in  Brussels. 


314     A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

not  be  able  to  go  until  afternoon,  as  he  had  broken 
the  key  to  his  portmanteau  and  would  have  to  have 
another  made.  The  Germans  did  not  see  anything 
funny  in  that,  and  left  him  behind. 

When  we  got  to  the  Ecole  Militaire,  we  were  refused 
admittance,  and  had  to  wrangle  with  the  sentries  at 
the  door.  Afler.  arguing  with  several  officers  and 
pleading  that  we  had  a  man  with  us  who  wanted  to 
be  put  in  prison,  we  were  reluctantly  admitted  to  the 
outer  gate  of  the  building,  where  British  subjects  are 
kept.  When  the  keeper  of  the  dungeon  came  out,  I 
explained  to  him  that  the  butler  had  been  detained, 
but  would  be  along  in  the  coiu-se  of  the  after- 
noon, whereupon  the  solemn  jailer  earnestly  replied, 
"Please  tell  him  that  he  must  be  here  not  later 
than  three  o'clock,  or  he  can't  get  in!"  And 
nobody  cracked  a  smile  until  I  let  my  feehngs  get 
the  better  of  me. 

I  was  prepared  for  an  affecting  parting  with  Grant- 
Watson  in  consigning  him  to  the  depths  of  a  German 
jail,  but  he  took  it  as  calmly  as  though  he  were  going 
into  a  country  house  for  a  week-end  party.  I  suppose 
there  is  some  chance  that  they  may  exchange  him  for 
a  few  wounded  German  officers  and  thus  get  him  back 
to  England. 

Since  our  snow-storm  the  other  day,  the  weather 
has  turned  terribly  cold  and  we  have  suffered  even 
with  all  the  comforts  that  we  have.  And  the  cheerful 
weather  prophets  are  telling  us  that  without  doubt 
this  will  be  one  of  the  coldest  winters  ever  known.  A 
pleasant  prospect  for  the  boys  at  the  front!  Mrs. 
W^hitlock  and  everybody  else  is  busy  getting   warm 


Photographs  of  Dinant 


A'iew  of  Dinant 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    315 

clothing  for  the  poor  and  for  the  refugees  from  all 
parts  of  Belgium  who  were  unable  to  save  anything 
from  their  ruined  homes.  It  is  bad  enough  now,  but 
what  is  coming.... 

Gustave  has  just  come  in  with  the  cheering  news 
that  Ashley,  our  crack  stenographer,  has  been  arrested 
by  the  Germans.  They  are  making  themselves  alto- 
gether charming  and  agreeable  to  us. 

Max  is  spread  out  before  the  fire,  snoring  like  a 
sawmill — the  only  Enghshman  in  Brussels  who  is 
easy  in  his  mind  and  need  not  worry. 

Tuesday,  November  24th. — ^Another  day  of  rush  with- 
out getting  very  far. 

The  Germans  decided  this  morning  that  they 
would  arrest  Felix  Jeffes,  the  British  Vice-Consul,  so 
I  had  the  pleasant  task  of  telUng  him  that  he  was 
wanted.  I  am  to  go  for  him  to-morrow  morning 
and  take  him  to  the  Ecole  Militaire  with  his  com- 
patriots. This  job  of  policeman  does  not  appeal  to 
me,  even  if  it  is  solely  to  save  our  friends  the  humil- 
iation of  being  taken  through  the  streets  by  the 
Germans. 

November  25th. — ^Had  a  pleasant  day. 

Had  arrangements  made  with  Jeffes  to  go  with  him 
to  the  Ecole  Militaire  at  11  o'clock  and  turn  him 
over  to  his  jailer.  The  Minister  went  up  with  von  der 
Lancken  to  see  the  Englishmen  and  be  there  when 
Jeffes  arrived,  so  as  to  show  a  friendly  interest  in  his 
being  well  treated. 

I  went  around  to  the  Consulate  on  time,  and  found 


316    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

that,  through  a  misunderstanding,  Jeffes  had  made  no 
preparations  for  going,  having  been  assured  that 
another  attempt  would  be  made  to  get  him  oflF.  I 
pointed  out  that  the  Minister  had  given  his  word  of 
honour  that  Jeffes  should  be  there,  and  that  he  would  be 
left  in  a  very  unpleasant  and  annoying  position  if  we 
did  not  turn  up  as  promised.  Jeffes  was  perfectly 
ready,  although  not  willing  to  go.  I  went  to  the  Ecole 
Militaire  and  explained  to  von  der  Lancken  that 
Jeffes'  failure  to  appear  was  due  to  a  mistake,  and 
asked  that  he  be  given  time  to  straighten  out  his 
accounts  and  come  later  in  the  day  or  to-morrow 
morning.  The  answer  was  that  he  must  come  some 
time  during  the  day.  The  Consul-General  went  straight 
to  von  Liittwitz  with  Jeffes,  made  a  great  plea  on  the 
score  of  his  health  or  lack  of  it,  and  got  his  time  ex- 
tended until  he  could  be  given  a  medical  examination 
by  the  military  authorities.  Late  in  the  afternoon 
he  was  looked  over  and  told  to  go  home  and  be 
quiet,  that  he  would  probably  not  be  wanted,  but  that 
if  anything  came  up,  they  would  communicate  with 
him  further. 

Brussels,  November  27, 19H. — ^More  busy  days.  Each 
day  we  swear  that  we  will  stop  work  early  and  go  out 
to  play.  Each  day  we  sit  at  our  desks,  and  darkness 
comes  down  upon  us,  and  we  do  not  get  away  until 
nearly  eight  o'clock.  "Thanksgiving  Day"  was  no  ex- 
ception, and  to-day  we  are  going  through  the  same  old 
performance.  Yesterday,  by  strenuous  work,  I  got 
down  to  swept  bunkers  and  had  a  good  prospect  of  an 
easy  day.     Instead  of  that  there  has  been  a  deluge  of 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    317 

Consuls,  mail,  telegrams,  and  excited  callers,  and  we 
are  snowed  under  a  heap  of  work  it  w^ill  take  several 
days  to  get  out  of  the  w^ay. 

We  came  back  to  them  with  a  bump,  however,  when 
Nasmith  came  to  my  flat  at  midnight  to  say  that 
Jeffes  had  been  arrested.  And  it  was  done  in  the  usual 
charming  manner.  In  the  course  of  the  afternoon,  the 
Consul- General  got  a  note  asking  him  to  go  to  head- 
quarters "to  talk  over  the  case  of  Mr.  Jeffes."  It 
asked  also  that  Jeffes  accompany  the  Consul-General 
"to  the  conference."  When  they  arrived  it  was  an- 
nounced that  Jeffes  was  under  arrest  and  to  be  sent 
immediately  to  the  Ecole  Militaire.  The  Consul-Gen- 
eral, like  the  Minister,  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit,  was 
placed  in  the  position  of  having  lured  his  friend  into 
jail.  He  protested  vigorously,  but  was  not  even 
allowed  to  accompany  Jeffes  to  the  Ecole  Mihtaire.  It 
was  only  after  some  heated  argument  that  Jeffes  was 
allowed  five  minutes  at  home,  under  guard,  to  get  a 
few  belongings  together  to  take  with  him.  The  Con- 
sul-General is  furious,  and  so  am  I  w^hen  I  remember 
how  decently  the  German  Vice-Consul  here  was  treated 
when  the  war  broke  out. 

Early  in  the  week  Jack  is  to  be  sent  down  to  Mons, 
to  bring  out  some  English  nurses  who  have  been  there 
nursing  the  British  wounded.  Two  of  them.  Miss 
Hozier  and  Miss  Angela  Manners,  were  in  yesterday. 
They  have  been  working  hard  during  the  past  three 
months  and  are  now  ready  to  go  back  to  England  if  we 
can  arrange  for  passports. 

Under  the  date  of  November  26th,  General  von 
Kraewel  announces  that  he  has  succeeded  Baron   von 


318    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Liittwitz,  who  has  been  transferred  to  the  army  at  the 
front. 

Hoover  arrived  from  London  this  afternoon  accom- 
panied by  Shaler  and  by  Dr.  Rose,  Henry  James,  Jr., 
and  Mr.  Bicknell  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation,  who 
have  come  to  look  into  conditions.  There  is  plenty  for 
them  to  see,  and  we  shall  do  our  best  to  help  them 
see  it. 

As  we  learned  from  a  confidential  source,  several 
days  ago,  there  has  been  a  big  shake-up  in  the  Govern- 
ment here.  Both  von  der  Goltz  and  von  Liittwitz 
have  gone  and  have  been  replaced — the  first  by  Freiherr 
von  Bissing,  and  the  latter  by  General  von  Kraewel. 
There  are  several  explanations  for  the  changes,  but  we 
don't  yet  know  what  they  mean. 

Brussels,  December  2,  19H. — ^We  have  had  a  hectic 
time.  Hoover  arrived  on  Sunday  evening,  accom- 
panied by  Shaler  and  by  three  representatives  of  the 
Rockefeller  Foundation.  We  have  had  a  steady  rush 
of  meetings,  conferences,  etc.,  and  Hoover  and  Shaler 
pulled  out  early  this  morning.  There  is  not  much 
relief  in  sight,  however,  for  tomorrow  morning  at  the 
crack  of  dawn,  I  expect  to  start  off  on  a  tour  of  Bel- 
gium, to  show  the  Rockefeller  people  what  conditions 
really  are.  We  shall  be  gone  for  several  days  and  shall 
cover  pretty  well  the  whole  country. 

Yesterday  morning  I  got  Jack  off  to  Mons  to  bring 
back  the  British  nurses.  Everything  in  the  way  of 
passports  and  arrangements  with  the  mihtary  authori- 
ties had  been  made,  and  he  went  away  in  high  spirits 
for  a  Httle  jaunt  by  himself.     This  morning  at  half -past 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    319 

three  o'clock  he  rang  the  doorbell  and  came  bristling 
in,  the  maddest  man  I  have  seen  in  a  long  time.  He 
had  suffered  everything  that  could  be  thought  of  in 
the  way  of  insult  and  indignity,  and  to  make  it  worse, 
had  been  obliged  to  stand  by  and  watch  some  brutes 
insult  the  girls  he  was  sent  down  to  protect.  When  he 
arrived  at  Mons  he  got  the  nurses  together  and  took 
them  to  the  headquarters,  where  he  explained  that  he 
had  been  sent  dowTi  by  the  Minister  with  the  consent 
of  the  German  authorities,  to  bring  the  nurses  to  Brus- 
sels. This  was  stated  in  writing  on  the  passport  given 
him  by  the  German  authorities  here.  Instead  of  the 
polite  reception  he  had  expected,  the  German  oflScer, 
acting  for  the  Commandant,  turned  on  him  and  told 
him  that  the  nurses  were  to  be  arrested,  and  could  not 
go  to  Brussels.  Then,  by  way  of  afterthought,  he 
decided  to  arrest  Jack  and  had  him  placed  under  guard 
on  a  long  bench  in  the  headquarters,  where  he  was  kept 
for  three  hours.  Luckily,  an  old  gentleman  of  the 
town  w^ho  knew  the  nurses,  came  in  on  some  errand, 
and  before  they  could  be  shut  up,  they  contrived  to  tell 
him  what  the  situation  was  and  ask  him  to  get  word 
to  the  Legation.  Right  away  after  this  the  three 
women  were  taken  out  and  put  in  the  fourth-class  cells 
of  the  military  prison,  that  is,  in  the  same  rooms  with 
common  criminals.  Jack  was  left  in  the  guard  room. 
The  old  gentleman,  who  had  come  in,  rushed  off  to  the 
Burgomaster  and  got  him  stirred  up  about  the  case, 
although  he  was  loath  to  do  anything,  as  he  knew  that 
a  representative  of  the  American  Legation  could  not 
be  arrested.  Finally  he  did  come  around  to  head- 
quarters, and  after  a  long  row  with  the  Adjutant,  they 


320    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

got  Jack  released  and  fitted  out  with  a  laisser-passer  to 
return  to  Brussels.  He  was  insulted  in  good  shape, 
and  told  that  if  he  came  back  again,  sent  by  the  Min- 
ister or  by  anybody  else,  he  would  be  chucked  into 
jail  and  stay  there.  Before  the  nurses  were  taken 
down  to  their  prison,  the  Adjutant  shook  his  fist  in  Miss 
Hozier's  face,  and  told  her  that  they  were  going  to  give 
her  a  good  lesson,  so  that  the  English  should  have 
a  taste  of  the  sort  of  treatment  they  were  meting 
out  to  German  nurses  and  doctors  that  fell  into  their 
hands. 

The  Mayor  and  Aldermen  took  Jack  in  charge  when 
he  was  released,  and  kept  him  in  one  of  their  homes 
until  time  for  the  train  to  leave  for  Brussels  at  mid- 
night. They  were  convinced  that  he  would  be  arrested 
again  at  the  station,  but  he  did  get  off  in  a  car  filled 
with  sick  soldiers  and  arrived  here  without  mishap  at 
three  o'clock  or  a  little  after. 

I  went  over  to  see  von  der  Lancken  the  first  thing  in 
the  morning,  and  told  him  the  whole  story,  in  order 
that  he  might  be  thinking  over  what  he  was  going  to 
do  about  it  before  the  Minister  went  over  to  see  him 
at  eleven.  The  Minister  said  his  say  in  plain  lan- 
guage, and  got  a  promise  that  steps  would  be  taken  at 
once  to  get  the  girls  out  of  prison  and  have  them  brought 
to  Brussels.  Later  in  the  day  von  der  Lancken  came 
through  with  the  information  that  the  action  of  the 
authorities  at  Mons  was  ''due  to  a  misunderstanding,'' 
and  that  everything  was  lovely  now.  We  suppose  that 
the  girls  will  be  here  to-morrow;  if  not,  inquiries  will 
be  made  and  the  Minister  will  probably  go  down 
himself. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    321 

Yesterday  morning  we  spent  visiting  soup  kitchens, 
milk  stations,  and  the  distributing  centres  for  supplying 
old  clothes  to  the  poor.  The  whole  thing  is  under  one 
organisation  and  most  wonderfully  handled.  It  is  prob- 
ably the  biggest  thing  of  the  sort  that  has  ever  been 
undertaken  and  is  being  done  magnificently. 

It  is  a  curious  thing  to  watch  the  Commission  grow. 
It  started  as  nothing  but  a  group  of  American  mining 
engineers,  with  the  sympathetic  aid  of  some  of  our  dip- 
lomatic representatives  and  the  good-will  of  the  neutral 
world.  It  is  rapidly  growing  into  a  powerful  inter- 
national entity,  negotiating  agreements  with  the  Great 
Powers  of  Europe,  enjoying  rights  that  no  Government 
enjoys,  and  as  the  warring  governments  come  to  under- 
stand its  sincerity  and  honesty,  gaining  influence  and 
authority  day  by  day. 

There  is  no  explanation  of  the  departure  of  von  der 
Goltz.  His  successor  has  come  out  with  a  proclama- 
tion in  three  lines,  as  follows: 

His  Majesty,  the  Emperor  and  King,  having  deigned  to  ap- 
point me  Governor-General  in  Belgium,  I  have  to-day  assumed 
the  direction  of  affairs. 

Baron  von  Bissing. 

Brussels,  December  3,  1914. 

Brussels,  Sunday,  December  6,  19H. — ^We  got  away 
at  eight  o'clock  on  Thursday  morning,  in  three  cars 
from  the  Palace  Hotel.  We  were  four  cars  when  we 
started,  but  fifty  feet  from  the  door  the  leading  car 
broke  down  and  could  not  be  started,  so  we  re- 
arranged ourselves  and  left  the  wreck  behind.  The 
party  was  composed  of  the  three  Rockefeller  repre- 


322    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

sentatives,  Dr.  Rose,  Mr.  Bicknell,  and  Henry  James, 
Jr.,  Monsieur  Francqui,  Josse  AUard,  Jack  and  I. 

It  was  rainy  and  cold,  but  we  made  good  time  to 
Louvain  and  stopped  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  Professor 
Neerincxs,  of  the  University,  took  up  the  duties  of 
Burgomaster  when  the  Germans  shipped  the  real  one 
away.  He  speaks  perfect  English,  and  led  the  crowd 
around  the  town  with  the  rush  and  energy  of  a  Cook's 
tourist  agent.  He  took  us  first  through  the  Cathedral, 
and  showed  us  in  detail  things  that  we  could  not  have 
seen  if  we  had  gone  at  it  alone.  Then  around  to  the 
library  and  some  of  the  other  sights  of  particular 
interest,  and  finally  for  a  spin  through  the  city,  to  see 
the  damage  to  the  residence  district.  This  was  a  most 
interesting  beginning,  and  made  a  good  deal  of  an 
impression  on  our  people.  They  asked  questions  about 
the  work  being  done  by  the  people  toward  cleaning 
up  the  ruins  of  the  town  and  trying  to  arrange  make- 
shift shelters  to  live  in  during  the  winter.  The  Mayor 
is  a  man  of  real  force  of  character,  and  has  accomplished 
marvels  under  the  greatest  difficulties. 

From  Louvain  we  cut  away  to  the  northeast  to 
Aerschot,  where  we  took  a  quick  look  at  the  welter 
of  ruin  and  struck  out  to  the  west  through  Diest  and 
Haelen,  which  I  saw  on  my  first  trip  with  Frederick 
Palmer  before  there  was  anything  done  to  them. 

We  got  to  Liege  about  one  o'clock  and  had  lunch 
in  a  restaurant  downtown,  where  we  were  joined  by 
Jackson,  our  delegate  sent  down  there  to  supervise 
the  distribution  of  food  for  the  Commission.  He  told 
us  a  lot  about  the  difficulties  and  incidents  of  his 
work,  and  some  details  of  which  we  had  to  think.    He 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    323 

is  the  first  delegate  we  have  sent  to  outlying  cities, 
and  is  up  on  his  toes  with  interest.  A  lot  more  have 
already  sailed  from  New  York,  and  will  soon  be  here. 
They  are  to  be  spread  all  over  the  country  in  the 
principal  centres,  some  to  stay  in  the  big  cities  and 
watch  local  conditions,  and  others  to  travel  about  their 
districts  and  keep  track  of  the  needs  of  the  different 
villages.  It  is  all  working  out  a  lot  better  than  we  had 
hoped  for,  and  we  have  good  reason  to  be  pleased. 
Our  chief  annoyance  is  that  every  time  things  get 
into  a  comfortable  state,  some  idiot  starts  the  story 
either  in  England  or  America  that  the  Germans  have 
begun  to  seize  foodstuffs  consigned  to  us.  Then  we  have 
to  issue  statements  and  get  off  telegrams,  and  get 
renewed  assurances  from  the  German  authorities  and 
make  ourselves  a  general  nuisance  to  everybody  con- 
cerned. If  we  can  choke  off  such  idiots,  our  work  will  be 
a  lot  easier. 

The  Burgomaster  came  into  the  restaurant  to  find 
us,  and  offered  to  go  on  with  us  to  Vise,  to  show  us 
the  town,  and  we  were  glad  to  have  him,  as  he  knows 
the  place  hke  the  palm  of  his  hand. 

I  had  been  through  Vise  twice,  and  had  marvelled 
at  the  completeness  of  the  destruction,  but  had  really 
had  no  idea  of  what  it  was.  It  was  a  town  of  about 
forty -five  hundred  souls,  built  on  the  side  of  a  pretty 
hill  overlooking  the  Meuse.  There  are  only  two  or 
three  houses  left.  We  saw  one  old  man,  two  children 
and  a  cat  in  the  place.  Where  the  others  are,  nobody 
knows.  The  old  man  was  well  over  sixty,  and  had  that 
afternoon  been  put  off  a  train  from  Germany,  where 
he  had  been  as  a  prisoner  of  war  since  the  middle  of 


324    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

August.  He  had  Kriegsgefangener  Munster 
stencilled  on  his  coat,  front  and  back,  so  that  there 
could  be  no  doubt  as  to  who  he  was.  He  was  standing 
in  the  street  with  the  tears  rolling  down  his  cheeks 
and  did  not  know  where  to  go;  he  had  spent  the  day 
wandering  about  the  neighbouring  villages  trying  to 
find  news  of  his  wife,  and  had  just  learned  that  she  had 
died  a  month  or  more  ago.  It  was  getting  dark,  and 
to  see  this  poor  old  chap  standing  in  the  midst  of  this 
welter  of  ruin  without  a  chick  or  child  or  place  to  lay 
his  head.  ...  It  caught  our  companions  hard,  and 
they  loaded  the  old  man  up  with  bank-notes,  which 
was  about  all  that  anybody  could  do  for  him  and 
then  we  went  our  way.  We  wandered  through  street 
after  street  of  ruined  houses,  sometimes  whole  blocks 
together  where  there  were  not  enough  walls  left  to 
make  even  temporary  shelters. 

Near  the  station  we  were  shown  a  shallow  grave 
dug  just  in  front  of  a  house.  We  were  told  who  filled 
the  grave — an  old  chap  of  over  sixty.  He  had  been 
made  to  dig  his  own  grave,  and  then  was  tied  to  a 
young  tree  and  shot.  The  bullets  cut  the  tree  in  two 
just  a  httle  above  the  height  of  his  waist,  and  the 
low  wall  behind  was  full  of  bullet  holes. 

As  nearly  as  we  can  learn,  the  Germans  appear  to 
have  come  through  the  town  on  their  way  toward 
Liege.  Nothing  was  supposed  to  have  happened  then, 
but  on  the  15th,  16th  and  17th,  troops  came  back  from 
Liege  and  systematically  reduced  the  place  to  ruins 
and  dispersed  the  population.  It  was  clear  that  the 
fires  were  all  set,  and  there  were  no  evidence  of  street 
fighting.     It  is  said  that  some  two  hundred  civilians 


A  LA  POPUM  LIUE 

La  population  d'Andenne,  apr^s  avoir  t6moign6  des 
intentions  pacifiques  ^  regard  de  nos  troupes,  les  a  atta- 
qu6es  de  la  fagon  la  plus  traltresse.  Avec  mon  autorisation, 
le  g^n^ral  qui  commandait  ces  troupes  a  mis  la  ville  en 
cendres  et  a  fait  fusilier  110  personnes. 

Je  porte  ce  fait  d.  la  connaissance  de  la  Ville  de  Li6ge 
pour  que  ses  habitants  sachent  d.  quel  sort  ils  peuvent 
s'attendre  s'ils  prennent  une  attitude  semblable. 

Li6ge.  le  22  Aoat  1914. 

66ii6ral  von  BULO\l^. 


Translation: 


Von  Bulow's  greeting  to  the  people  of  Liege 
ORDER  TO  THE  POPULATION  OF  LIEGE 


The  population  of  Andenne,  after  manifesting  peaceful  intentions  toward  our  troops, 
attacked  them  in  the  most  treacherous  manner.  ^Yith  my  authorization  the  general 
who  commanded  these  troops  has  reduced  the  town  to  ashes  and  has  shot  110  persons. 

I  bring  this  fact  to  the  knowledge  of  the  City  of  Liege  so  that  its  people  may  under- 
stand the  fate  which  awaits  them  if  they  assume  a  like  attitude. 


Dieses  Haus  ist 
zu  Schiitzen 

Ks  isl  slreng  verboleu,  ohiie 
Genehmii^ung  <ler  Kommaii- 
(tantur,  Haus(M*  zii  belrcMlen 
o<ler  ill  BraiMl  zuselzcn. 


How  the  simple  pleasures  of  the  German  soldier  were  restricted 

Translation: 

Tins  HOUSE  IS  TO  BE  PROTECTED 

It  is  strictly  forbidden  to  enter  houses  or  set  them  on  fire  without  the  permission  of  the 

Kommandantur 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    325 

were  shot,  and  seven  hundred  men  bundled  aboard 
trains  and  sent  back  to  Germany  as  prisoners  of  war — 
harmless  people  like  the  old  chap  we  saw. 

The  Burgomaster  set  out  on  foot  to  walk  back  three 
kilometers  and  catch  a  tram  to  Liege,  and  we  went 
southeast  to  Dalhem,  where  we  spent  the  night  at 
the  Chateau  de  Dalhem,  on  a  hill  overlooking  the 
picturesque  little  village  snuggled  in  the  bottom  of 
the  valley.  It  was  off  the  main  line  of  march,  and 
had  not  suffered.  The  chateau  belongs  to  General 
Thyss,  who  was  a  great  friend  of  the  late  King  Leopold. 
He  was  not  there,  but  the  place  was  being  protected 
by  a  splendid  old  dragon  in  the  shape  of  a  German 
governess  who  had  been  with  the  family  for  over 
thirty  years,  and  refused  to  leave  when  the  war  broke 
out.  She  had  been  obliged  to  lodge  a  crowd  of  German 
officers  and  some  of  their  men,  but  held  them  down 
with  an  iron  hand,  kept  them  from  doing  any  dam- 
age and  made  them  pay  for  every  egg  and  every 
bottle  of  wine  they  had.  We  arrived  after  dark 
and  threw  the  place  into  a  panic  of  fear,  but  Mon- 
sieur Francqui  soon  reassured  everybody,  and  the 
place  was  Hghted  up  and  placed  at  our  disposal  in 
short  order. 

Although  it  was  pitch-dark  when  we  arrived,  it 
was  only  half -past  four  and  we  set  out  on  foot  to 
stretch  a  little.  The  moon  came  out  and  lighted  our 
way  through  the  country  roads.  We  tramped  •'■'' 
a  couple  of  hours  through  all  sorts  of  httle  town- 
villages  and  groups  of  houses,  some  of  them  wiped  c. 
and  some  hardly  touched. 

General  Thyss's  cellars   are  famous,  and  with  our 


326    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

dinner  of  soup  and  bacon  and  eggs,  we  had  some  of  the 
finest  Burgundy  I  have  ever  tasted.  Early  to  bed 
so  that  we  could  be  up  and  off  at  daybreak. 

Friday  morning  we  were  away  early,  and  made  for 
Herve,  where  I  had  never  been  before.  It  is  a  ruin 
with  a  few  natives  and  a  lot  of  Landsturm  left.  We 
talked  to  some  peasants  and  to  an  old  priest  who  gave 
us  something  to  think  about  in  their  stories  of  happen- 
ings there  during  and  after  the  occupation  of  their 
homes.  From  there  to  Liege,  by  way  of  a  lot  of  Kttle 
villages  whose  names  I  don't  remember,  but  whose 
condition  was  pretty  bad,  past  the  fort  of  Fleron  and 
the  defensive  works  that  are  being  put  up  there. 

Wasted  some  time  trying  to  get  gasoHne  for  the 
other  motors,  and  then  the  long  stretch  to  Namur, 
down  the  valley  of  the  Meuse,  and  stopped  long 
enough  for  a  look  at  Andennes,  my  second  visit  to  the 
place. 

]ji  Andenne  and  Seilles  (a  little  village  across  the 
Meuse)  the  Germans  did  a  thorough  job.  They  killed 
about  three  hundred  people  and  burned  about  the 
same  number  of  houses.  Most  of  the  houses  had  been 
looted  systematically.  According  to  the  stories  of 
those  inhabitants  who  remain,  there  was  a  reign  of 
terror  for  about  a  week,  during  which  the  Germans 
rendered  themselves  guilty  of  every  sort  of  atrocity 
and  barbarity.  They  are  all  most  positive  that  there 
was  no  firing  upon  the  German  troops  by  the  civil 
population.  It  seems  to  be  generally  believed  that  the 
massacre  was  due  to  resistance  of  retirmg  Belgian 
troops  and  the  destruction  of  bridges  and  tunnels  to 
cover  their  retreat.     Whatever  the  provocation,  the 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    327 

behaviour  of  the  Germans  was  that  of  savages.  We 
were  shown  photographs  showing  the  corpses  of  some 
of  those  killed.  It  was  to  be  inferred  that  they  had 
been  wantonly  mutilated. 

Had  lunch  at  an  hotel  across  the  street  from  the 
station.  After  a  hasty  lunch  we  made  off  to  Dinant, 
still  following  the  Meuse.  The  thin  hne  of  houses 
down  the  course  of  the  river  were  thinner  than  they 
were  a  few  months  ago,  and  there  were  signs  of  suffering 
and  distress  everywhere.  I  had  never  been  to  Dinant 
before,  but  had  seen  pictures  of  it  and  thought  I  had 
an  idea  of  what  we  were  going  to  see.  But  the  pictures 
did  not  give  a  hint  of  the  horror  of  the  place.  The 
little  town,  which  must  have  been  a  gem,  nestled  at 
the  foot  of  a  huge  gray  chff,  crowned  with  the  obsolete 
fort,  which  was  not  used  or  attacked.  The  town  is 
gone.  Part  of  the  church  is  standing,  and  the  walls 
of  a  number  of  buildings,  but  for  the  most  part,  there 
is  nothing  but  a  mess  of  scattered  bricks  to  show  where 
the  houses  had  stood.  And  why  it  was  done,  we  were 
not  able  to  learn,  for  everybody  there  says  that  there 
was  no  fighting  in  the  town  itself.  We  heard  stories, 
too,  and  such  stories  that  they  can  hardly  be  put  on 
paper.  Our  three  guests  were  more  and  more  impressed 
as  we  went  on.  The  bridge  was  blown  up  and  had  fallen 
into  the  river,  and  as  we  had  little  time  to  make  the 
rest  of  our  day's  journey,  we  did  not  wait  to  cross  by 
the  emergency  bridge  farther  up  the  river.  While  we 
were  standing  talking  to  a  schoolmaster  and  his  father 
by  the  destroyed  bridge,  seven  big  huskies  with  rifles 
and  fixed  bayonets  came  through,  leading  an  old  man 
and  a  woman  who  had  been  found  with  a  camera  in 


328    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

their  possession.  At  first  there  was  no  objection 
raised  to  the  taking  of  photographs,  but  now  our 
friends  are  getting  a  httle  touchy  about  it,  and  lock  up 
anybody  silly  enough  to  get  caught  with  kodaks  or 
cameras. 

According  to  what  we  were  told,  the  Germans  entered 
the  town  from  the  direction  of  Ciney,  on  the  evening 
of  August  21st,  and  began  firing  into  the  windows  of 
the  houses.  The  Germans  admit  this,  but  say  that 
there  were  French  troops  in  the  town  and  this  was  the 
only  way  they  could  get  them  out.  A  few  people  were 
killed,  but  there  was  nothing  that  evening  in  the  nature 
of  a  general  massacre.  Although  the  next  day  was 
comparatively  quiet,  a  good  part  of  the  population 
took  refuge  in  the  surrounding  hills. 

On  Sunday  morning,  the  23rd,  the  German  troops 
set  out  to  pillage  and  shoot.  They  drove  the  people 
into  the  street,  and  set  fire  to  their  houses.  Those 
who  tried  to  run  away  were  shot  down  in  their  tracks. 
The  congregation  was  taken  from  the  church,  and  fifty 
of  the  men  were  shot.  All  the  civihans  who  could  be 
rounded  up  were  driven  into  the  big  square  and  kept 
there  until  evening.  About  six  o'clock  the  women 
were  lined  up  on  one  side  of  the  square  and  kept  in 
line  by  soldiers.  On  the  other  side,  the  men  were 
lined  up  along  a  wall,  in  two  rows,  the  first  kneeling. 
Then,  under  command  of  an  oflScer,  two  volleys  were 
fired  into  them.  The  dead  and  wounded  were  left 
together  until  the  Germans  got  round  to  burying 
them,  when  practically  all  were  dead.  This  was  only 
one  of  several  wholesale  executions.  The  Germans  do 
not  seem  to  contradict  the  essential  facts,  but  merely 


m  liBITilTS 

BEL&iQUE 


Le  Map^chal  Von  der  Goltz  fait 
connaitre  aux  Populations  de  Belgique 
qu'il  est  inform^  par  les  Generaux 
Commandants  les  troupes  d'occupa- 
tion  sur  le  territoire  iranoais,  que  le 
cholera  s^vit  avec  intensite  dans 
les  troupes  alli^es,  et  qu'il  y  a  le  plus 
grand  danger  a  franchir  ces  lignes,  ou 
a  p6netrer  dans  le  territoire  ennemi. 

Nous  invitons  les  Populations  de 
Belgique  a  ne  pas  enireindre  cet  avis, 
et  ceux  qui  croiraient  ne  pas  devoir 
se  soumettre  ^  cet  avis,seront  traduits 
devant  les  Officiers  de  la  Justice  Imp6- 
riale,  et  nous  les  prevenons  que  la 
peine  peut-6tre  celle  de  mort. 

Marechal  Von  der  Goltx 

Septembre  1914 


Translation:  ,        .  .    .  r 

Field-Marshal  vonjder jGoltz_announces  to  the  Belgian  population  that  he  is  informed 

by  the  Generals  commanding  the  troops  occupying  French  territory  that  cholera  is  raging 

fiercely  among  the  allied  troops  and  that  there  is  the  greatest  danger  in  crossing  the  hnes 

or  entering  enemy  territory. 

We  call  upon  the  Belgian  population  not  to  infringe  this  notice.     Those  who  do  not 

comply  with  this  notice  will  be  brought  before  the  Imperial  Officers  of  Justice  and  we  warn 

them  that  the  penalty  of  death  may  be  inflicted  upon  them. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    329 

put  forward  the  plea  that  most  of  the  damage  was 
incidental  to  the  fighting  which  took  place  between 
the  armed  forces.  Altogether  more  than  eight  hundred 
people  were  killed.  Six  hundred  and  twelve  have  been 
identified  and  given  burial.  Others  were  not  recog- 
nisable. I  have  one  of  the  lists  which  are  still  to  be 
had,  although  the  Germans  have  ordered  all  copies 
returned  to  them.  Those  killed  ranged  in  age  from 
Felix  Fivet,  aged  three  weeks,  to  an  old  woman  named 
Jadot,  who  was  eighty.  But  then  Fehx  probably  fired 
on  the  German  troops. 

There  is  no  end  to  the  stories  of  individual  atrocities. 
One  is  that  Monsieur  Wasseige,  director  of  one  of  the 
banks,  was  seized  by  the  Germans,  who  demanded 
that  he  should  open  the  safes.  He  flatly  refused  to 
do  this,  even  under  threat  of  death.  Finally  he  was 
led  with  his  two  eldest  sons  to  the  Place  d'Armes  and 
placed  with  more  than  one  hundred  others,  who  were 
then  killed  with  machine  guns.  Monsieur  Wasseige' s 
three  youngest  children  were  brought  to  the  spot  by 
German  soldiers,  and  compelled  to  witness  the  murder 
of  their  father  and  two  brothers. 

From  Dinant  we  struck  across  country  through 
PhilUpeville  and  some  httle  by-roads  to  Ranee,  where 

we  were  expected  at  the  house  of  G.  D .    He  and  his 

wife  and  their  httle  girl  of  five  had  just  returned  that 
morning  to  receive  us,  but  the  place  was  brightly 
lighted  and  as  completely  prepared  as  though  they 
had  been  there  all  the  time.  It  was  a  lovely  old  place, 
and  we  were  soon  made  comfortable.  German  officers 
have  occupied  it  most  of  the  time,  and  it  required 
a  good  deal  of  cleaning  and  repairing  after  they  left. 


330    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

but  fortunately  this  work  had  just  been  completed, 
and  we  had  a  chance  to  enjoy  the  place  before  any  more 
enforced  guests  appeared.  One  of  the  Imperial  prince- 
lings had  been  there  for  one  night,  and  his  name  was 
chalked  on  the  door  of  his  room.     He  had  been  tres 

aiviable,  and  when  he  left  had  taken  D 's  motor  with 

him. 

We  took  a  tramp  around  the  town  in  a  biting  wind, 
and  looked  at  some  of  the  houses  of  our  neighbours. 
Some  of  them  were  almost  wrecked  after  having  served 
as  quarters  for  troops  for  varying  periods.  From  others 
all  the  furniture  had  been  taken  away  and  shipped 
back  to  Germany.  One  man  showed  us  a  card  which 
he  had  found  in  the  frame  of  one  of  his  best  pictures. 
It  was  the  card  of  a  German  oflBcer,  and  under  the  name 
was  written  an  order  to  send  the  picture  to  a  certain 
address  in  Berlin.  The  picture  was  gone,  but  the 
frame  and  card  were  still  there  and  are  being  kept 
against  the  day  of  reckoning — ^if  any.  We  were  shown 
several  httle  safes  which  had  been  pried  open  and 
looted,  and  were  told  the  usual  set  of  stories  of  what 
had  happened  w^hen  the  army  went  through.  Some 
of  the  things  w^ould  be  hard  to  believe  if  one  did  not 
hear  them  from  the  lips  of  people  who  are  reliable  and 
who  live  in  such  widely  separated  parts  of  the  country 
at  a  time  when  communications  are  almost  impossible. 

We  had  a  good  and  ingeniously  arranged  dinner. 
All  sorts  of  ordinary  foods  are  not  to  be  had  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  and  our  hostess  had,  by  able 
thinking,  arranged  a  meal  which  skillfully  concealed 
the  things  that  were  lacking.  Among  other  things,  I 
observed  that  we  had  a  series  of  most  dehcious  wines 


A  Belgian  relief  ship  at  Rotterdam 


Rotterdam  office  of  the  Commission  for  Relief  in  Belgium 


Barges  of  the  Commission  for  Relief  in  Belgium  leaving 
Rotterdam  with  cargoes  of  food 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    331 

— ^for  our  host  of  that  evening  also  had  a  wonderful 
cellar.  They  had  told  us  just  before  dinner  that  the 
Germans  had  taken  an  inventory  of  their  wines  and 
had  forbidden  them  to  touch  another  drop,  so  I  won- 
dered whether  they  were  not  incurring  some  risk  in 
order  to  give  us  the  wine  that  they  considered  indis- 
pensable. When  I  asked  our  hostess,  she  told  me  that 
it  was  very  simple,  that  all  they  needed  to  do  was  to 
drink  a  part  of  several  bottles,  refill  them  partially 
w^th  water,  seal  them,  and  put  them  back  in  the  cellars; 
she  said  scornfully  that  ''les  Boches  don't  know  one 
wine  from  another,"  and  had  not  yet  been  able  to 
detect  the  fraud.  They  had  a  lot  of  cheap  cham- 
pagne in  the  cellar  and  had  been  filling  them  up  with 
that,  as  they  prefer  any  champagne  to  the  best  vintage 
Burgundies.  Once  in  a  while  there  is  a  Kttle  satisfac- 
tion reserved  for  a  Belgian. 

We  were  called  at  daybreak  and  were  on  the  road  at 
eight  o'clock,  taking  in  a  series  of  small  villages  which 
had  been  destroyed,  and  talking  with  the  few  people 
to  be  found  about  the  place.  This  part  of  Belgium  is 
far  worse  than  the  northern  part,  where  the  people  can 
get  away  with  comparative  ease  to  one  of  the  larger 
towns  and  come  back  now  and  then  to  look  after  their 
crops.  Here  one  village  after  another  is  wiped  out, 
and  the  peasants  have  no  place  to  go  unless  they  travel 
so  far  that  there  is  no  hope  of  returning,  perhaps  for 
months  together.  It  will  be  a  great  problem  to  pro- 
vide shelter  for  these  people  so  that  they  can  return. 

We  cut  through  Beaumont,  and  then  took  the  main 
road  to  Mons,  where  we  arrived  in  the  middle  of  the 
morning.     On  the  way  we  had  heard  that  the  English 


332    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

nurses  had  not  yet  been  released,  so  I  made  for  the 
military  headquarters  and  saw  the  commandant.  It 
was  evident  that  they  had  been  hauled  over  the  coals 
for  the  way  they  had  behaved  when  Jack  was  there, 
for  I  never  saw  such  politeness  in  any  headquarters. 
I  was  preceded  by  bowing  and  unctuous  soldiers  and 
non-commissioned  officers,  all  the  way  from  the  door 
to  the  Presence,  and  was  received  by  the  old  man 
standing.  He  was  most  solicitous  for  my  comfort  and 
offered  me  everything  but  the  freedom  of  the  city.  He 
said  that  he  had  not  received  a  word  of  instructions 
until  a  few  minutes  before  my  arrival,  but  that  he  was 
now  able  to  give  the  young  ladies  their  liberty  and  turn 
them  over  to  me.  In  order  to  get  them,  I  was  prayed 
to  go  over  to  the  headquarters  of  the  military  governor 
of  the  Province,  and  an  officer  was  assigned  to  accom- 
pany me.  While  we  were  there,  the  officer  who  had 
been  so  insulting  to  Jack  and  to  Miss  Hozier  came  into 
the  room,  took  one  look  at  us,  and  scuttled  for  safety. 
We  heard  afterward  that  he  had  been  ordered  to  apolo- 
gise for  his  behaviour. 

At  the  door  of  the  Provincial  headquarters  I  found 
another  car -flying  the  Legation  flag,  and  Monsieur  de 
Leval  came  charging  out  into  my  arms.  There  had 
been  a  pretty  hot  time  about  the  nurses  and  he  had 
finally  been  sent  down  to  get  them  out.  In  a  few 
minutes  we  had  them  sitting  on  a  bench  in  the  Gov- 
ernor's office,  while  Kracker,  who  used  to  be  one  of  the 
Secretaries  of  the  German  Legation  here,  was  making 
out  their  laisser -passers  to  come  to  Brussels.  They 
were  a  happy  crowd,  but  pretty  well  done  up  by  the 
treatment  they  had  had. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    333 

When  they  were  all  iBxed  I  went  in  and  asked  for 
the  release  of  Miss  Bradford,  another  English  nurse, 
who  had  been  in  prison  in  Mons  and  Charleroi  for  the 
past  five  weeks.  I  learned  of  her  imprisonment  almost 
by  accident  while  we  were  waiting  for  the  passports. 
After  some  argument  it  was  granted,  and  I  went  with  a 
soldier  to  the  prison  to  get  her  out.  I  had  not  expected 
to  find  anything  very  luxurious,  but  I  was  shocked 
when  I  saw  the  place.  It  was  the  most  severe,  repres- 
sive penitentiary  in  the  country — still  filled  with  com- 
mon criminals — and  the  Enghsh  nurse  was  given  the 
same  treatment  and  rations  as  the  worst  murderer  of 
the  lot.  There  was  the  usual  row  with  the  man  in 
charge  of  the  place,  and  finally  a  soldier  was  despatched, 
to  tell  the  young  woman  she  could  get  ready  to  go. 
While  she  was  getting  ready,  the  director  of  the  prison 
took  me  around  and  showed  me  with  great  pride 
things  that  made  me  shiver.  He  said,  however, 
that  it  was  an  outrage  to  put  a  woman  in  such 
a  place.  The  prisoners  who  do  the  work  of  the 
prison  were  going  about  the  corridors  under  guard, 
each  one  wearing  a  dirty  brown  mask  covering  his 
entire  head,  and  with  only  the  smallest  of  sHts  for  his 
eyes.  They  are  never  allowed  to  see  each  other's  faces 
or^to  speak  to  one  another.  I  was  taken  up  to  the 
chapel,  where  each  man  is  herded  into  a  little  box  like 
a  confessional  and  locked  in  so  that  he  cannot  see  his 
neighbour,  and  can  only  look  up  toward  the  raised 
altar  in  the  centre,  where  he  can  see  the  priest.  The 
school  was  arranged  in  the  same  way,  and  was  shown 
with  equal  pride.  I  fear  the  jailer  thought  me  lacking 
in  apprecifition. 


334    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

I  finally  got  the  young  woman  out,  nearly  hysterical, 
and  took  her  up  to  the  headquarters,  and  from  there 
to  the  hotel,  where  Monsieur  de  Leval  had  gathered 
his  charges  for  luncheon.  They  were  rapidly  recover- 
ing their  old-time  spirits,  and  were  chattering  away  Hke 
a  lot  of  magpies. 

While  I  was  fussing  about  with  them,  I  had  sent  my 
friends  and  fellow-travellers  ahead,  and  now  left  the 
flock  of  nurses  in  the  hands  of  Monsieur  de  Leval,  to 
be  conveyed  by  tram  back  to  Brussels,  while  I  tried  to 
catch  up  with  my  party  at  the  chateau  of  Monsieur 
Warroque,  at  Mariemont.  I  made  as  much  speed  as 
my  httle  car  was  capable  of,  but  it  was  nearly  two 
o'clock  when  I  arrived. 

The  old  chateau  of  Mariemont  is  one  of  those  built 
by  Louis  XIV,  when  he  set  out  to  have  one  for  each 
month  of  the  year.  This  was  his  place  for  August. 
It  had  been  destroyed,  and  the  new  one  is  built  near 
the  ruins,  but  the  large  park  is  as  it  has  been  for  a  long 
time,  and  a  lovely  place  it  is.  There  were  about  twenty 
at  table  when  we  arrived,  and  places  were  ready  for 
us.  More  fine  wines,  and  this  time  to  show  that  we 
were  in  the  house  of  a  connoisseur,  the  flimky,  in  pour- 
ing out  the  precious  stuff,  would  whisper  in  your  ear 
the  name  and  vintage.  Warroque  owns  a  lot  of  the 
coal  mines  and  other  properties  and  is  apparently 
greatly  loved  by  the  people.  When  the  Germans  came, 
they  seized  him  as  a  hostage,  but  the  people  became  so 
threatening  that  he  was  released.  How  many  men  in 
his  position  could  have  counted  on  that  much  devotion? 

Immediately  after  luncheon  we  shoved  off  and  made 
through  the  rain  for  Charier oi,  where  we  took  a  look 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    335 

at  the  damage  done  to  the  town.  It  was  aheady  dark 
and  we  then  turned  toward  Brussels  and  burned  up 
the  road,  getting  to  the  Legation  at  half-past  six,  to 
find  all  the  nurses  sitting  up,  having  tea  with  Mrs. 
Whitlock  and  the  Minister. 

Brussels,  December  10,  19H, — ^Yesterday  afternoon 
we  received  the  call  of  General  Freiherr  von  Bissing, 
Governor  General  in  Belgium,  and  of  General  Freiherr 
von  Kraewel,  Military  Governor  of  Brussels.  They 
were  accompanied  by  their  suites  in  full  regalia.  The 
mihtary  men  were  most  affable,  but  we  did  not  get  any 
farther  than  tea  and  cigarettes.  They  talked  mourn- 
fully of  the  war  and  said  they  wished  to  goodness  the 
whole  thing  was  over.  It  was  a  great  contrast  to  the 
cock-sure  talk  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  Von  Bis- 
sing said  that  there  were  hospitals  in  every  village  in 
Germany  and  that  they  were  all  filled  with  woimded. 
It  is  becoming  clearer  every  day  that  the  Germans,  as 
well  as  others,  are  getting  thoroughly  sick  and  tired  of 
the  whole  business  and  would  give  a  lot  to  end  it. 

A  little  while  ago  the  London  Times  cost  as  high  as 
two  himdred  francs.  It  has  been  going  down  steadily, 
until  it  can  be  had  now  for  four  francs  and  sometimes 
for  as  little  as  two.  The  penalties  are  very  severe,  but 
the  supply  keeps  up,  although  the  blockade  runners 
are  being  picked  up  every  day. 

Brussels,  December  11,  19 H. — ^This  afternoon  late 
B brought  an  uncle  to  see  me,  to  talk  about  condi- 
tions in  France  between  the  Belgian  frontier  and  the 
German  lines.     Those  poor  people  cannot,  of  course, 


336    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

get  anything  from  the  heart  of  France,  and  as 
the  Belgian  frontier  is  closed  tight  by  the  Ger- 
mans, they  are  already  starving.  It  looks  very 
much  as  though  we  should  have  to  extend  the 
scope  of  our  work,  so  as  to  look  after  them, 
too.  We  hear  very  little  news  from  that  part 
of  the  coimtry,  but  from  what  we  do  hear,  con- 
ditions   must    be    frightful.     In    one    httle  town  Mr. 

K came  through,  only  twenty  out  of  five  hundred 

houses  are  said  to  be  standing.  He  says  that  the 
people  are  not  permitted  to  leave  the  place  and  are 
living  in  the  cellars  and  ruins  in  great  misery  and  prac- 
tically without  food. 

Out  of  a  clear  sky  comes  a  new  trouble  for  the 
country.  The  German  Government  has  come  down 
with  a  demand  for  money  on  a  scale  that  leaves 
them  speechless.  The  Belgians  are  ordered  to 
make  a  forced  payment  each  month  of  forty 
millions  of  francs,  for  twelve  months.  The  two 
first  payments  are  to  be  made  by  the  15th  of 
next  month,  and  the  subsequent  installments  on 
the  10th  of  succeeding  months.  It  is  a  stag- 
gering total,  but  the  German  authorities  are  deaf 
to  appeals,  and  the  Provinces  will  have  to  get  together 
and  raise  the  money  in  some  way. 

An  entry  from  a  later  part  of  Mr.  Gibson's  journal 
gives  a  picture  of  the  Belgian  spirit  under  German  rule 
and  one  of  the  few  methods  of  retaliation  they  had  against 
German   oppression. 

The  Belgians  are  getting  a  good  deal  of  quiet  pleasure 
these  days  from  a  clandestine  newspaper  called  La  Libre 
Belgique    which    is    published    almost    in    the    shadow    of    the 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    337 

Brussels,  December  H,  1914^, — ^Yesterday  afternoon 
late,  after  a  session  at  C.  R.  B.*  headquarters,  I  dropped 

in  for  a  cup  of  tea  with  Baronne  Q .     There  was  a 

fine  circle  of  gossip  and  I  learned  all  the  spicy  stuff. 

The  husband  of  Mme.  de  F had  been  in  prison  for 

a  month,  having  been  pulled  out  of  a  motor  on  his  way 
to  the  frontier,  and  foimd  with  letters  on  him.  He  got 
out  on  Thursday  and  they  are  quite  proud  of  them- 

Kommandantur.  It  is  a  little  four-page  paper  that  is 
published  "every  now  and  then"  and  says  anything  it 
likes  about  the  "Occupant."  It  also  publishes  news  and 
texts  that  are  barred  from  the  censored  press.  It  is  dis- 
tributed in  a  mysterious  way  that  still  has  the  Germans 
guessing,  although  they  have  detailed  their  cleverest  sleuths 
to  the  task  of  hunting  down  the  paper  and  those  respon- 
sible for  its  publication.  Every  number  is  delivered  to 
all  the  more  important  German  oflScials  in  Brussels  and, 
more  remarkable  still,  it  appears  without  fail  upon  the 
desk  of  the  Governor-General — in  that  sanctum  guarded 
like  the  vaults  of  the  Bank  of  England.  Sometimes  it 
appears  in  the  letter-box  in  the  guise  of  a  letter  from 
Germany;  sometimes  it  is  thrown  in  the  window;  some- 
times it  is  delivered  by  an  orderly  with  a  bundle  of  official 
despatches;  sometimes  it  merely  appears  from  nowhere. 
But  it  never  fails  to  reach  the  Governor-General.  He 
never  fails  to  read  it  and  to  wax  wroth  over  its  con- 
tents. Large  rewards  have  been  offered  for  information 
about  the  people  who  are  writing  and  printing  the  paper. 
The  Germans  rage  publicly,  which  only  adds  to  the  pleas- 
ure  that   the   Belgians   get   from   their   little   enterprise. 

My  copy  reaches  me  regularly  and  always  in  some  weird 
way  as  in  the  case  of  the  Germans.  I  don't  know  who 
my  friend  is  that  sends  me  the  paper.  Whoever  he  is  I 
am  much  obliged. 

♦Commission  for  Relief  in  Belgium.     This  name  was  given  the  original  American  Relief 
Committee  within  a  few  weeks  of  its  foundation. 


338    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

selves.     They  were  having  a  fine  time  discussing  the 

predicament  of  the  H family.     The  Countess  was 

arrested  last  week  because  she,  too,  was  caught  carrying 
letters.  She  was  released  from  prison  and  allowed  to 
return  home.  Now  the  Germans  have  placed  sentries 
before  the  house  and  allow  no  one  to  enter  or  leave. 
The  old  gentleman  is  also  locked  up  there.  The  serv- 
ants have  been  driven  out,  and  are  not  even  permitted 
to  bring  meals  to  their  patrons,  who  are  dependent  on 
what  they  are  given  to  eat  by  the  German  soldiers. 
There  is  no  chargeagainst  them  at  present,  so  they 
have  no  idea  as  to  how  long  the  present  charming 
situation  will  last.  There  was  a  great  amount  of  gossip 
and  the  right  amount  of  tea  and  cakes,  so  I  had  an 
enjoyable  half  hour. 

Yesterday  morning  Grant- Watson  was  put  aboard 
a  train  and  taken  to  Berlin,  where  he  is  to  be  guarded 
as  a  prisoner  of  war.  It  is  all  most  outrageous,  as 
Lancken  definitely  promised  that  he  would  not  be 
molested.  Moral:  get  just  as  far  away  from  these 
people  as  you  can,  while  you  can,  in  the  knowledge  that 
if  they  "change  their  mind,"  promises  won't  count. 

Jeffes  is  left  here  for  the  present  and  may  be  released. 
We  shall  try  to  get  him  off,  but  in  view  of  what  has 
already  happened,  cannot  be  very  confident.  Jeffes  is 
philosophical  and  uncomplaining,  but  naturally  is  not 
very  happy. 

Brussels,  Sunday,  December  20,  19H, — ^Jack  got  off 
to  London  yesterday  after  a  visit  of  six  weeks.  Had 
it  not  been  for  the  nearness  of  Christmas  and  the 
knowledge  that  he  was  needed  at  home,  he  would  have 


tOJMERp  30 

PRIX  DU  NUMERO 


nm  1915 

^lastique,  de  z^ro  i  I'infini  (priere  aux  revendeurs  de  ne  pas  d^passer  cette  limite) 


LA  LIBRE  BELGIQUE 


Accepton*  pioviwiremeat  le*  ncrifice* 


qaJ  nous  soot  UDpos6 

i*  Btmrgnustre 
Adou-hb  max. 


FONDEE 
LE  1"  FEVRIEK  1913 


M*  M£RC1£R. 


BULLETIN    DE    PROPAGANDE    PATRIOTIQUE    —    REGULIEREMENT    IRREGLLIER 

NE    SE    SOUMETTANT     A    ADCCNE    CENSURE 


AUHESSE  T£L£GRAPUIQUB 

KOMMANDANTUR-BRUXELLES 


BUBEAirX    ET    ADMINISTRATION 

ne  pouvant  etre  un  emplacement 

de  tout  repos,  ils  sont  installes 

dans  une  cave  automobile 


ANNONCES  :  Les  affaires  etant  nulles 
sous  la  domination  allemande,  nous 
avons  supprime  la  page  d'annonces  el 
conseillons  k  nos  clients  de  reserver 
leur  argent  pour  des  temps  meilleurs. 


AVIS. 

On  nous  fait  a  nouveau  I'hon- 
near  de  s'occuper  de  noire  mo- 
deste  bulletin.  Mous  en  sommes 
Hattes,  mais  nous  nous  voyons, 
forces  de  repeter  a  que  nous 
avons  deja  dit  pour  notre  de- 
fense. Ce  nest  certes  pas  nous 
qu'ou  peut  accuser  sans  mauquer 
a  la  verite,  de  provoquer  nos 
concitoyens  a  la  revolte.  .\ous 
ne  manquons  pas  une  occasion 
de  precher  la  patience,  I'endu- 
ratice,  le  calme  et  le  respect  des 
lois  de  la  guerre.  Aussi  proji- 
tons-nous  de  celte  occasion  qui 
nous  est  offeite  pour  repeter 
I'avis  que  nous  avom  deJa  in- 
sere  : 


RESTO.\S  C.AUIES  I ! !  t 


Le  jour  viendra  (lentemenl 
mais  surement)  ou  nos  enneniis 
conlraints  de  reenter  devant  les 
.Allies,  devront  abandonner  notre 
capitate. 

Smivenons-nous  ators  des  avis 
nombreux  qui  ont  ete  donnes 
aux  civils  par  le  Gouverne- 
fnent  et  par  notre  bourgmestre 


SON  EX.CELLE.NCE  LE  GOUVERAELR  B«''  VON  BISSING 
ET  SON  AMIE  LNTIME 


NIJTBE  CHER  GOLVEnNEl  B,  IXfT.lBE  PAR  LA  I.ECTI  BE 

DES  HENSU.NGES  IIES  JOliRNAUX  CENSURES,  CHERCHE  LA  \ERITE* 

DANS  LA  «  LIBRE  BELGIQUE  » 


31.  .Vox  .  SOYONS  CALMES : ! ! 
Faisons  taire  les  sentiments  de 
legitime  cotere  qui  fcrmentcnl 
en  nos  cceurs. 

Soyons,  comine  nous  iavons 
eti  jusqu'ici,  respectueux  des 
lois  dela  guerre.  C'est  ainsi  que 
nous  conlinuerons  a  miriter 
I'estime  et  I'admiration  de  tuus 
les  peuples  civilises. 

Ce  seraU  une  INUTILE  LA- 
CHETE,  une  tuchete  indigne  ties 
Itelges  que  de  clurclur  a  se  ren- 
ga-  uilleurs  que  sur  le  champ  de 
bataille.  Ce  serait  de  plus  EX- 
POSER  UES  LNNOUENTS  d 
des  represailles  terribles  d*  la 
port  d'ennemis  sans  pilie  el 
sans  justice. 

.Melions-nous  des  agents  pro- 
vocateurs allemands  qui,  en 
exultant  notre  patriotisme,  nous 
pousseraienl  a  commettre  des 
exces. 

KESTONS  MAITRES  DE 
NULS-MEMES  ET  PHECHO.NS 
LE  CALME  AUTOIU  DE 
NOUS.  LEST  LE  PLUS 
GRAND  SERVICE  UUE  NOUS 
PUISSIONS  RENDRE  A  NO- 
TRE CREHE  PATRIE. 


L'ORDRE  SOCIAL  TOUT  ENTIER  DEFENDU 
PAR  LA  BELGIQUE. 

Le  3  aout,  le  Gouvernement  allemand  remel  a  la  Belgique 
une  note  demandant  le  libre  passage  pour  ses  armees  sur  son 
territoire,  moyennant  quoi  1  Allemagnc  s'engage  a  mainlenir 
rinlegrit^  du  royaume  et  de  ses  possessions,  Sinon,  la  Belgique 
8era  traitee  en  ennemie.  Le  roi  Albert  a  douze  hcures  pour 
rdpondre.  Devant  cet  ultimatum,  il  n'hesile  pas.  II  salt  que 
I'annte  allemande  est  une  force  terrible.  II  connait  I'empe- 


reur  allemand.  II  sait  que  rorgueilleux,  apres  une  telle 
demarche,  ne  reculcra  plus.  Son  tr6ne  est  en  ;jeu.  plus  que 
son  trone  .  les  sept  millions  d'Jmes  —  quelle  ^ioquenc* 
pn-nnent  les  vulgairrs  termes  des  sUlistiques  dans  certaines 
circonslances !  —  qui  lui  sonl  contlf^es  .  il  voit  en  esprit  cc 
beau  pays  indefendable  ces  charbonnages,  ces  carrii-re.'i,  ces 
usines,  ces  lilatures,  ces  ports,  celle  llonssantc  Industrie 
t'panouie  dans  ces  plaines  ouvertes  qu'il  ne  pourra  pas  pre- 
server. Mais  il  sagit  d'un  traiti  oil  il  y  a  sa  signature. 
Repondre  oui  a  I'Allemagne,  c'est  trahir  ses  consignataires.  le 


PRIEBE   DE   FAJRE   CIRCULER    CE    BULLETIN 


La  Libre  Belgique,  the  clandestine  paper  printed  in  Brnssels  in 
1915,  which  survived  General  von  Bissing's  reward  for  the  dis- 
covery of  its  office  and  made  fun  of  him  by  faking  a  picture  of 
him  reading  their  condemned  paper. 


Edward  D.  Curtis.  The  first  volunteer  worker  of  the  Commis- 
sion for  Rehef  in  Belgium.  He  served  continuously  from  the 
autumn  of  1014  until  the  entry  of  the  United  States  into  the  war 


^!^VK-^   -fwrjfcii..  I     Cc^gLe^:tl^    Kcr^  K^fi>    "^fivv    4|f^^  *-i^ 

•vorf  ^   Vw    wpe-^-ja^A .  I     tvff|i«.  XXr  "^^i^     KwAw    <^«CA^  "^ 

•(uCli^f  V*^w^^Jpt^  ^v*  cuJ^  ^Urvv   «v^<A^  Oi>c. 


Appeal  of  the  Queen  of  the  Belgians  for  help  from  America 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    339 

been  prepared  to  stay  on  indefinitely.  His  grief  at 
leaving  was  genuine.  He  invested  heavily  in  flowers 
and  chocolates  for  the  people  who  had  been  nice  to 
him,  endowed  all  the  servants,  and  left  amid  the  cheers 
and  sobs  of  the  populace.  He  is  a  good  sort,  and  I  was 
sorry  to  see  him  go.  By  this  time  he  is  probably 
sitting  up  in  London,  telling  them  all  about  it. 

To-day  I  went  up  to  Antwerp  to  bring  back  our  old 
motor.  Left  a  httle  before  noon,  after  tidying  up  my 
desk,  and  took  my  two  Spanish  colleagues,  San  Esteban 
and  Mohna,  along  for  company.  I  had  the  passes  and 
away  we  went  by  way  of  Malines,  arriving  in  time  for 
a  late  lunch. 

Antwerp  is  completely  Germanised  already.  We 
heard  hardly  a  word  of  French  anywhere — even  the 
hotel  waiters  speaking  only  hotel  French.  The  crowd 
in  the  restaurant  of  the  Webber  was  exclusively  Ger- 
man, and  there  was  not  a  word  of  French  on  the  menu. 

The  Germans  took  over  the  garage  where  our  car 
was  left  the  day  they  came  in,  and  there  I  discovered 
what  was  left  of  the  old  machine.  The  sentries  on 
guard  at  the  door  reluctantly  let  us  in,  and  the  poor 
proprietor  of  the  garage  led  us  to  the  place  where  our 
car  has  stood  since  the  fall  of  Antwerp.  The  soldiers 
have  removed  two  of  the  tires,  the  lamps,  cushions, 
extra  wheels,  speedometer,  tail  lights,  tool  box,  and  had 
smashed  most  of  the  other  fixings  they  could  not  take 
off.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  my  return  trip  to  Brussels 
at  the  time  of  the  bombardment  was  for  the  purpose 
of  bringing  the  plans  of  the  city  to  the  Germans,  so 
that  they  would  have  knowledge  of  the  location  of  the 
public   monuments   and   could   spare   them,   it   seems 


340    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

rather  rough  that  they  should  repay  us  by  smashing 
our  motor.  I  think  we  shall  make  some  remarks  to 
them  to  this  eflFect  to-morrow,  and  intimate  that  it  is 
up  to  them  to  have  the  car  repaired  and  returned  to  us 
in  good  shape. 

The  first  group  of  Americans  to  work  on  the  reHef 
came  into  Belgium  this  month.  They  are,  for  the 
most  part,  Rhodes  Scholars  who  were  at  Oxford,  and 
responded  instantly  to  Hoover's  appeal.  They  are  a 
picked  crew,  and  have  gone  into  the  work  with  enthusi- 
asm. And  it  takes  a  lot  of  enthusiasm  to  get  through 
the  sort  of  pioneer  work  they  have  to  do.  They  have 
none  of  the  thrill  of  the  fellows  who  Jiave  gone  into  the 
flying  corps  or  the  ambulance  service.  They  have  ahead 
of  them  a  long  wiater  of  motoring  about  the  country  in 
all  sorts  of  weather,  wrangling  with  millers  and  ste- 
vedores, checking  cargoes  and  costs,  keeping  the  peace 
between  the  Belgians  and  the  German  authorities, 
observing  the  rules  of  the  game  toward  everybody  con- 
cerned, and  above  all,  keeping  neutral.  It  is  no  small 
undertaking  for  a  lot  of  youngsters  hardly  out  of 
college,  but  so  far  they  have  done  splendidly. 

The  one  I  see  the  most  of  is  Edward  Curtis,  who 
sails  back  and  forth  to  Holland  as  courier  of  the  Com- 
mission. He  was  at  Cambridge  when  the  war  broke 
out,  and  after  working  on  Hoover's  London  Committee 
to  help  stranded  Americans  get  home,  he  came  on  over 
here  and  fell  to.  He  exudes  silence  and  discretion,  but 
does  not  miss  any  fun  or  any  chance  to  advance  the 
general  cause.  Of  course  it  is  taking  the  Germans 
some  time  to  learn  his  system.  He  is  absolutely  square 
with  them,  and  gets  a  certain  amount  of  fun  out  of 


A  Brussels  soup-kitchen  run  by  volunteers 


Meals  served  to  the  children  in  the  schools 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    341 

their  determined  efforts  to  find  some  sort  of  contra- 
band on  him.  They  can  hardly  conceive  of  his  being 
honest,  and  think  his  seeming  frankness  is  merely  an 
unusually  clever  dodge  to  cover  up  his  transgression«s. 

Brussels,  December  21,  19H. — ^Yesterday  Brussels 
awoke  from  the  calm  in  which  it  had  been  plunged  for 
some  time,  when  a  couple  of  French  aviators  came 
sailing  overhead  and  dropped  six  bombs  on  the  rail- 
road yards  at  Etterbeck.  I  was  away  at  Antwerp 
and  did  not  see  it,  but  everybody  else  of  the  population 
of  700,000  Bruxellois  did,  and  each  one  of  them  has 
given  me  a  detailed  account  of  it.  The  German  forces 
did  their  level  best  to  bring  the  bird  men  down  with 
shrapnel,  but  they  were  flying  high  enough  for  safety. 
They  seem  to  have  hit  their  mark  and  torn  up  the 
switches,  etc.,  in  a  very  satisfactory  way.  For  three 
or  four  days  we  have  been  hearing  the  big  guns  again, 
each  day  more  distinctly;  but  we  don't  know  what 
it  means.  The  Germans  explain  it  on  the  ground  that 
they  are  testing  guns. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hoover  arrived  last  night,  bringing 
Frederick  Palmer  with  them.  We  dined  together  at 
the  Palace.  They  were  full  of  news,  both  war  and 
shop,  and  I  sat  and  talked  with  them  until  after  eleven, 
greatly  to  the  prejudice  of  my  work.  Had  to  stay  up 
and  grind  until  nearly  two. 

Curtis,  who  came  back  last  night,  says  that  Jack 
was  arrested  at  Antwerp  on  his  way  out,  because  he 
had  Folkstone  labels  on  his  bags.  It  took  him  so  long 
to  explain  away  his  suspicious  belongings  that  he  barely 
caught  the  last  train  from  Rosendaal  to  Flushing.    He 


342    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

seems  to  be  destined  to  a  certain  amount  of  arrest 
now  and  then. 

Hoover  turned  up  at  the  Legation  this  morning  at 
a  Uttle  after  nine,  and  he  and  the  Minister  and  I  talked 
steadily  for  three  hours  and  a  half. 

Despite  the  roar  of  work  at  the  Legation,  I  went  off 
after  lunch  with  Mrs.  Whitlock  and  did  some  Xmas 
shopping — ordered  some  flowers  and  chocolates.    Went 

out  and  dropped  Mrs.  Whitlock  at  Mrs.  B 's,  to  help 

decorate  the  tree  she  is  going  to  have  for  the  English 

children  here.     B is  a  prisoner  at  Ruhleben,  and  will 

probably  be  there  indefinitely,  but  his  wife  is  a  trump. 
She  had  a  cheery  letter  from  him,  saying  that  he  and 
his  companions  in  misery  had  organised  a  theatrical 
troupe,  and  were  going  soon  to  produce  The  Importance 
of  Being  Earnest, 

Brussels,  Christmas,  19H, — ^This  is  the  weirdest 
Christmas  that  ever  was — ^with  no  one  so  much  as  think- 
ing of  saying  "Merry  Christmas."  Everything  is  so 
completely  overshadowed  by  the  war,  that  had  it  not 
been  for  the  children,  we  should  have  let  it  go  un- 
noticed. 

Yesterday  evening  there  was  a  dinner  at  the  Lega- 
tion— ^Bicknell,  Rose  and  James,  the  Hoovers  and 
Frederick  Palmer.  Although  there  was  a  bunch  of 
mistletoe  over  the  table,  it  did  not  seem  a  bit  Christ- 
masy,  but  just  an  ordinary  good  dinner  with  much 
interesting  talk. 

Immediately  after  lunch  we  climbed  into  the  big 
car  and  went  out  to  Lewis  Richards'  Christmas  tree. 
He  has  a  big  house  at  the  edge  of  town,  with  grounds 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM    343 

which  were  fairy-like  in  the  heavy  white  frost.  He 
had  undertaken  to  look  after  660  children,  and  he 
did  it  to  the  Queen's  taste.  They  were  brought  in  by 
their  mothers  in  bunches  of  one  hundred,  and  marched 
aroimd  the  house,  collecting  things  as  they  went.  In 
one  room  each  youngster  was  given  a  complete  outfit 
of  warm  clothes.  In  another,  some  sort  of  a  toy  which 
he  was  allowed  to  choose.  In  another,  a  big  bag  of 
cakes  and  candies,  and,  finally,  they  were  herded  into 
the  big  dining-room,  where  they  were  filled  with  all 
sorts  of  Xmas  food.  There  was  a  big  tree  in  the  hall, 
so  that  the  children,  in  their  triumphal  progress,  merely 
walked  around  the  tree.  Stevens  had  painted  all  the 
figures  and  the  background  of  an  exquisite  creche, 
with  an  electric  light  behind  it,  to  make  the  stars  shine. 
The  children  were  speechless  with  happiness,  and 
many  of  the  mothers  were  crying  as  they  came  by. 

Since  the  question  of  food  for  children  became  acute 
here,  Richards  has  been  supplying  rations  to  the  babies 
in  his  neighbourhood.  The  number  has  been  steadily 
increasing,  and  for  some  time  he  has  been  feeding  over 
two  hundred  youngsters  a  day.  He  has  been  very 
quiet  about  it,  and  hardly  anyone  has  known  what 
he  was  doing. 

It  is  cheering  to  see  a  man  who  does  so  much  to 
comfort  others;  not  so  much  because  he  weighs  the 
responsibihty  of  his  position  and  fortune,  but  because 
he  has  a  great-hearted  sympathy  and  instinctively 
reaches  out  to  help  those  in  distress.  Otherwise  the 
day  was  pretty  black,  but  it  did  warm  the  cockles  of 
my  heart  to  find  this  simple  American  putting  some 
real  meaning  into   Christmas   for   these   hundreds   of 


344    A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

wretched  people.     He  also  gave  it  a  deeper  meaning 
for  the  rest  of  us. 

Brussels,  December  SI,  19 H, — ^Here  is  the  end  of  the 
vile  old  year.  We  could  see  it  out  with  rejoicing,  if 
there  were  any  prospect  of  1915  bringing  us  anything 
better.    But  it  doesn't  look  very  bright  for  Belgium. 

The  extracts  from  this  journal  have  been  so  volu- 
minous as  to  preclude  bringing  the  record  much  farther 
than  the  end  of  1914.  In  the  main  the  story  of  1915- 
1916  is  in  the  development  of  the  Commission  for  Relief 
in  Belgium  and  the  new  light  shed  each  day  upon 
German  methods  and  mentality.  It  is  a  long  story 
and  could  not  be  crowded  between  the  covers  of  this 
volume.  There  is,  however,  one  outstanding  event  in 
1915 — the  case  of  Miss  Edith  Cavell — which  is  of 
such  interest  and  so  enlightening  as  to  conditions  in 
Belgium  under  German  domination  as  to  warrant  its 
inclusion  in  this  book.  At  the  risk,  therefore,  of  appear- 
ing disconnected  it  has  been  decided  to  publish  as  a 
final  chapter  an  article  in  regard  to  the  case  of  Miss 
Cavell  which  has  already  appeared  in  the  World's 
Work, 

On  August  5,  1915,  Miss  Edith  Cavell,  an  English- 
woman, directress  of  a  large  nursing  home  at  Brussels, 
was  quietly  arrested  by  the  German  authorities  and 
confined  in  the  prison  of  St.  Gilles  on  the  charge  that 
she  had  aided  stragglers  from  the  AUied  armies  to 
escape  across  the  frontier  from  Belgium  to  Holland, 
furnishing  them  with  money,  clothing  and  information 
concerning   the  route  to  be  followed.     It   was   some 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  345 

time  before  news  of  Miss  Cavell's  arrest  was  received 
by  the  American  Legation,  which  was  entrusted  with 
the  protection  of  British  interests  in  the  occupied  por- 
tion of  Belgium.  When  the  Minister  at  Brussels 
received  a  communication  from  the  Ambassador  at 
London  transmitting  a  note  from  the  Foreign  Office 
stating  that  Miss  Cavell  was  reported  to  have  been 
arrested  and  asking  that  steps  be  taken  to  render  her 
assistance,  Mr.  \Miitlock  immediately  addressed  a  note 
to  the  German  authorities  asking  whether  there  was 
any  truth  in  the  report  of  Miss  Cavell's  arrest  and 
requesting  authorisation  for  Maitre  Gaston  de  Leval, 
the  legal  counselor  of  the  Legation,  to  consult  with 
Miss  Cavell  and,  if  desirable,  entrust  some  one  with 
her  defense. 

No  reply  was  received  to  this  communication,  and 
on  September  10th  the  Legation  addressed  a  further 
note  to  Baron  von  der  Lancken,  Chief  of  the  Pohtical 
Department,  calling  his  attention  to  the  matter  and 
asking  that  he  enable  the  Legation  to  take  such  steps 
as  might  be  necessary  for  Miss  Cavell's  defense. 

On  September  12th  a  reply  was  received  from  Baron 
von  der  Lancken  in  which  it  was  stated  that  Miss 
Cavell  had  been  arrested  on  August  5th  and  was  still 
in  the  military  prison  of  St.  Gilles.  The  note  con- 
tinued : 

She  has  herself  admitted  that  she  concealed  in  her  house  French 
and  English  soldiers,  as  well  as  Belgians  of  military  age,  all  de- 
sirous of  proceeding  to  the  front.  She  has  also  admitted  having 
furnished  these  soldiers  with  the  money  necessary  for  their  jour- 
ney to  France,  and  having  facilitated  their  departure  from  Bel- 
gium by  providing  them  with  guides,  who  enabled  them  to  cross 
the  Dutch  frontier  secretly. 


346  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Miss  Cavell's  defense  is  in  the  hands  of  the  advocate  Braun, 
who,  I  may  add,  is  already  in  touch  with  the  competent  German 
authorities. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Department  of  the  Governor- 
General,  as  a  matter  of  principle,  does  not  allow  accused  persons 
to  have  any  interviews  whatever,  I  much  regret  my  inability  to 
procure  for  M.  de  Leval  permission  to  visit  Miss  Cavell  as  long 
as  she  is  in  solitary  confinement. 

Under  the  provisions  of  international  law  the  Amer- 
ican Minister  could  take  no  action  while  the  case  was 
before  the  courts.  It  is  an  elementary  rule  that  the 
forms  of  a  trial  must  be  gone  through  without  inter- 
ference from  any  source.  If,  when  the  sentence  has 
been  rendered,  it  appears  that  there  has  been  a  denial 
of  justice,  the  case  may  be  taken  up  diplomatically, 
with  a  view  to  securing  real  justice.  Thus  in  the  early 
stages  of  the  case  the  American  Minister  was  helpless 
to  interfere.  All  that  he  could  do  while  the  case  was 
before  the  courts  was  to  watch  the  procedure  carefully 
and  be  prepared  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  facts  to 
see  that  a  fair  trial  was  granted. 

Maitre  de  Leval  communicated  with  Mr.  Braun, 
who  said  that  he  had  been  prevented  from  pleading 
before  the  court  on  behalf  of  Miss  Cavell,  but  had 
asked  his  friend  and  colleague,  Mr.  Kirschen,  to  take 
up  the  case.  Maitre  de  Leval  then  communicated 
with  Mr.  Kirschen,  and  learned  from  him  that  lawyers 
defending  prisoners  before  German  mihtary  courts 
were  not  allowed  to  see  their  clients  before  the  trial 
and  were  shown  none  of  the  documents  of  the  prose- 
cution. It  was  thus  manifestly  impossible  to  prepare 
any  defense  save  in  the  presence  of  the  court  and  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  trial.     Maitre  de  Leval,  who 


PROCUMiTIOH 


I  CAVELL,  iMtHotriee  a  BmeBea. 
PkOipfe  BAINOQ,  ArchHecte  i  BraMOea. 
ieaaoe  dr  BeLLEVU.LE,  de  MMliKnie*. 
U«bc  THUIUEZ,  ProTeasear  •  UUc 
Laab  8EVEIlin  PkanMcieo  i  BnueOea. 
Alkert  UBKZ,  Avoeal  i  Mo«w 

fear  le  ■«»  miu.  oot  «M  naduwH  t  ^aliK  to*  dc  innu  krct 
Heraaaa  CAPIAV,  ing^niear  i  Waaowa.  •  Ada  BODART,  i 
Geargca  DGRVEAU,  Pbarmaeien  i  Pilarages.  -  Narj  de  CROY.  * 
Dana  n  ataie  siao^  le  Oxueil  de  Goerre  a  prooonei  cootr* 


4r  m^aox  lorc«a  el  4e  priaaa  Tariaot  entre  deu  aoa  et  kait  a^ 
Ea  c«  qai  emcerM  BAPiOQ  el  E«lk  CAVELU  le    Kw«meat 


Bnndlea  farte  cea  hiu  i  la 


Le 

paUieyov^nia 


German  proclamation  announcing  the  execution  of  Miss  Cavell 

Translation : 

The  Imperial  German  Com-t  Martial  sitting  at  Brussels  has  pronounced  the  following 
sentence: 

Condemned  to  death  for  treason  committed  as  an  organized  band: 

Edith  Cavell,  teacher,  of  Brussels. 

Philippe  Bancq,  Architect,  of  Brussels. 

Jeanne  de  Belleville,  of  Montignies. 

Louise  Thuilier,  Teacher,  of  Lille. 

Louis  Severin,  druggist,  of  Brussels. 

Albert  Libiez,  lawyer,  of  Mons. 

For  the  same  offense  the  following  are  condemned  to  fifteen  years  of  hard  labor: 

Hermann  Capiau,  engineer,  of  Wasmes — Ada  Bodart,  of  Brussels — Georges  Derveau, 
druggist,  of  Paturages — Mary  de  Croy,  of  Bellignies. 

At  the  same  session  the  Court  Martial  has  pronounced  sentences  of  hard  labor  and  of 
imprisonment,  varying  from  two  to  eight  years,  against  seventeen  others  accused  of  trea- 
son against  the  Imperial  Armies. 

As  regards  Bancq  and  Edith  Cavell,  the  sentence  has  already  been  fully  carried  out. 

The  Governor-General  brings  these  facts  to  the  attention  of  the  public  in  order  that 
they  may  serve  as  a  warning. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  347 

from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  case  showed  a 
most  serious  and  chivalrous  concern  for  the  welfare  of 
the  accused,  then  told  Mr.  Kirschen  that  he  would 
endeavour  to  be  present  at  the  trial  in  order  to  watch 
the  case.  Mr.  Kirschen  dissuaded  him  from  attending 
the  trial  on  the  ground  that  it  would  only  serve  to 
harm  Miss  Cavell  rather  than  help  her;  that  the 
judges  would  resent  the  presence  of  a  representative  of 
the  American  Legation.  Although  it  seems  unbehev- 
able  that  any  man  of  judicial  mind  would  resent  the 
presence  of  another  bent  solely  on  watching  the  course 
of  justice,  Mr.  Kirschen's  advice  was  confirmed  by 
other  Belgian  lawyers  who  had  defended  prisoners 
before  the  German  miHtary  courts  and  spoke  with  the 
authority  of  experience.  Mr.  Kirschen  promised,  how- 
ever, to  keep  Mattre  de  Leval  fully  posted  as  to  all 
the  developments  of  the  case  and  the  facts  brought 
out  in  the  course  of  the  trial. 

The  trial  began  on  Thursday,  October  7th,  and  ended 
the  following  day. 

On  Sunday  afternoon  the  Legation  learned  from 
persons  who  had  been  present  at  the  trial  some  of  the 
facts. 

It  seems  that  Miss  Cavell  was  prosecuted  for  hav- 
ing helped  English  and  French  soldiers,  as  well  as 
Belgian  young  men,  to  cross  the  frontier  into  Holland 
in  order  that  they  might  get  over  to  England.  She 
had  made  a  signed  statement  admitting  the  truth  of 
these  charges  and  had  further  made  public  acknowl- 
edgment in  court.  She  frankly  admitted  that  not  only 
had  she  helped  the  soldiers  to  cross  the  frontier  but 
that   some   of   them   had   written   her   from   England 


348  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

thanking  her  for  her  assistance.  This  last  admission 
made  the  case  more  serious  for  her  because  if  it  had 
been  proven  only  that  she  had  helped  men  to  cross  the 
frontier  into  Holland,  she  could  have  been  sentenced 
only  for  a  violation  of  the  passport  regulations,  and 
not  for  the  "crime"  of  assisting  soldiers  to  reach  a 
country  at  war  with  Germany. 

Miss  Cavell  was  tried  under  Paragraph  58  of  the 
German  Military  Code,  which  says: 

Any  person  who,  with  the  intention  of  aiding  the  hostile  Power 
or  causing  harm  to  German  or  alUed  troops,  is  guilty  of  one  of 
the  crimes  of  Paragraph  90  of  the  German  Penal  Code,  will  be 
sentenced  to  death  for  treason. 

The  "crime"  referred  to  by  Paragraph  90  was  that 
of  "conducting  soldiers  to  the  enemy"  (viz.:  dem 
Feinde  Mannschaften  zufilhrt). 

It  is  manifest  that  this  was  a  strained  reading  of 
the  provisions  of  mihtary  law;  that  a  false  interpreta- 
tion was  wiKully  put  upon  these  provisions  in  order 
to  secure  a  conviction.  This  law  was  obviously  framed 
to  cover  the  case  of  those  who  assist  stragglers  or  lost 
soldiers  to  get  back  to  their  own  Unes  and  join  their 
units.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  framers  of  the  mili- 
tary law  had  foreseen  anything  so  indirect  and  unprece- 
dented as  that  of  helping  soldiers  cross  into  a  neutral 
country  in  the  hope  that  they  might  find  their  way 
back  through  two  other  countries  to  their  own  army. 
Miss  Cavell  assisted  these  soldiers  to  escape  into  a 
neutral  country  which  was  bound,  if  possible,  to  appre- 
hend and  intern  them.  If  these  soldiers  succeeded  in 
outwitting  the  Dutch  authorities  and  making  their  way 
to  England,  their  success  would  not,  to  any  fair-minded 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  349 

person,  increase  the  offense  committed  by  Miss  C  a  veil. 

Miss  Cavell's  conduct  before  the  court  was  marked 
by  the  greatest  frankness  and  courage.  She  stated 
that  she  had  assisted  these  men  to  escape  into  Holland 
because  she  thought  that  if  she  had  not  done  so  they 
would  have  been  seized  and  shot  by  the  Germans; 
that  she  felt  that  she  had  only  done  her  duty  in  help- 
ing to  save  their  lives. 

The  Military  Prosecutor  replied  that  while  this  argu- 
ment might  be  made  concerning  English  soldiers,  it 
could  not  apply  to  Belgians,  who  were  free  to  remain 
in  the  country  without  danger.  The  subsequent  be- 
haviour of  the  German  authorities  to  the  Belgian  young 
men  who  remained  in  the  country  does  not  lend  any 
considerable  weight  to  the  remarks  of  the  PubUc  Pros- 
ecutor. 

In  concluding  his  plea,  the  Public  Prosecutor  asked 
that  the  court  pass  the  sentence  of  death  upon  Miss 
Cavell  and  eight  other  prisoners  among  the  thirty-five 
brought  to  trial. 

Upon  ascertaining  these  facts  Maitre  de  Leval  called 
at  the  Pohtical  Department  and  asked  that,  the  trial 
having  taken  place,  permission  be  granted  him  to  see 
Miss  Cavell  in  person,  as  there  could  be  no  further 
objection  to  consultation.  Herr  Conrad,  an  official  of 
the  Pohtical  Department,  who  received  Maitre  de 
Leval,  stated  that  he  would  make  enquiry  of  the  court 
and  communicate  with  him  later. 

The  foregoing  are  the  developments  up  to  Sunday 
night,  October  10th.  Subsequent  developments  are 
shown  by  the  following  extracts  from  a  journal  made 
at  the  time: 


350  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Brussels,  October  12,  1915. — ^Wlien  I  came  in  yes- 
terday morning  I  found  information  which  seemed  to 
confirm  previous  reports  that  Miss  Cavell's  trial  had 
been  concluded  on  Saturday  afternoon  and  that  the 
prosecution  had  asked  that  the  death  sentence  be  im- 
posed. Monsieur  de  Leval  promptly  called  the  Polit- 
ical Department  over  the  telephone  and  talked  to 
Conrad,  repeating  our  previous  requests  that  he  be 
authorised  to  see  Miss  Cavell  in  prison.  He  also  asked 
that  Mr.  Gahan,  the  English  chaplain,  be  permitted  to 
visit  her.  Conrad  replied  that  it  had  been  decided 
that  Mr.  Gahan  could  not  see  her,  but  that  she  could 
see  any  of  the  three  Protestant  clergymen  (Germans) 
attached  to  the  prison;  that  de  Leval  could  not  see 
her  until  the  judgment  was  pronounced  and  signed. 
He  said  that  as  yet  no  sentence  had  been  pronounced 
and  that  there  would  probably  be  a  delay  of  a  day  or 
two  before  a  decision  was  reached.  He  stated  that 
even  if  the  judgment  of  the  court  had  been  given,  it 
would  have  no  effect  until  it  had  been  confirmed  by 
the  Governor,  who  was  absent  from  Brussels  and  would 
not  return  for  two  or  possibly  three  days.  We  asked 
Conrad  to  inform  the  Legation  immediately  upon  the 
confirmation  of  the  sentence  in  order  that  steps  might 
be  taken  to  secure  a  pardon  if  the  judgment  really 
proved  to  be  one  of  capital  punishment.  Conrad  said 
he  had  no  information  to  the  effect  that  the  court  had 
acceded  to  the  request  for  the  death  sentence,  but 
promised  to  keep  us  informed.  I  stood  by  the  tele- 
phone and  could  overhear  both  de  Leval  and 
Conrad. 

Despite  the  promise  of  the  German  authorities  to 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  351 

keep  us  fully  posted,  we  were  nervous  and  apprehensive 
and  remained  at  the  Legation  all  day,  making  repeated 
enquiry  by  telephone  to  learn  whether  a  decision  had 
been  reached.  On  each  of  these  occasions  the  Political 
Department  renewed  the  assurance  that  we  would  be 
informed  as  soon  as  there  was  any  news.  In  order  to 
be  prepared  for  every  eventuality,  we  drew  up  a  peti- 
tion for  clemency  addressed  to  the  Governor-General, 
and  a  covering  note  addressed  to  Baron  von  der 
Lancken,  in  order  that  they  might  be  presented  with- 
out loss  of  time  in  case  of  urgent  need. 

A  number  of  people  had  been  arrested  and  tried  for 
helping  men  to  cross  into  Holland,  but,  so  far  as  we 
know,  the  death  sentence  had  never  been  inflicted. 
The  usual  thing  was  to  give  a  sentence  of  imprison- 
ment in  Germany.  The  oflScials  at  the  Political  De- 
partment professed  to  be  skeptical  as  to  the  reported 
intention  of  the  court  to  inflict  the  death  sentence, 
a^ad  led  us  to  think  that  nothing  of  the  sort  need  be 
apprehended. 

None  the  less  we  were  haunted  by  a  feeling  of  im- 
pending horror  that  we  could  not  shake  off.  I  had 
planned  to  ride  in  the  afternoon,  but  wdien  my  horse 
was  brought  around,  I  had  it  sent  away  and  stayed 
near  the  telephone.  Late  in  the  afternoon  de  Leval 
succeeded  in  getting  into  communication  with  a  lawyer 
interested  in  one  of  the  accused.  He  said  that  the 
German  Kommandantur  had  informed  l:im  that  judg- 
ment would  be  passed  the  next  morning,  Tuesday.  He 
was  worried  as  to  what  was  in  store  for  the  prisoners 
and  said  he  feared  the  court  would  be  very  severe. 

At  6.20  I  had  Topping  (clerk  of  the  Legation)  tele- 


352  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

phone  Conrad  again.  Once  more  we  had  the  most 
definite  assurances  that  nothing  had  happened  and 
a  somewhat  weary  renewal  of  the  promise  that  we 
should  have  immediate  information  when  sentence  was 
pronounced.* 

At  8.30  I  had  just  gone  home  when  de  Leval  came 
for  me  in  my  car,  saying  that  he  had  come  to  report 
that  Miss  Cavell  was  to  be  shot  during  the  night.  We 
could  hardly  credit  this,  but  as  our  informant  was  so 
positive  and  insisted  so  earnestly,  we  set  off  to  see 
what  could  be  done. 

De  Leval  had  seen  the  Minister,  who  was  ill  in  bed, 
and  brought  me  his  instructions  to  find  von  der 
Lancken,  present  the  appeal  for  clemency,  and  press 
for  a  favourable  decision.  In  order  to  add  weight  to 
our  representations,  I  was  to  seek  out  the  Spanish 
Minister  to  get  him  to  go  with  us  and  join  in  our 
appeal.  I  found  him  dining  at  Baron  Lambert's,  and 
on  explaining  the  case  to  him  he  wilhngly  agreed  to 
come. 

When  we  got  to  the  Political  Department  we  found 
that  Baron  von  der  Lancken  and  all  the  members  of 
his  staff  had  gone  out  to  spend  the  evening  at  one  of 
the  disreputable  little  theatres  that  have  sprung  up 
here  for  the  entertainment  of  the  Germans.  At  first 
we  were  unable  to  find  where  he  had  gone,  as  the  or- 
derly on  duty  evidently  had  orders  not  to  tell,  but  by 
dint  of  some  blustering  and  impressing  on  him  the  fact 
that  Lancken  would  have  cause  to  regret  not  having 
seen  us,  he  agreed  to  have  him  notified.     We  put  the 

*  This  was  just  one  hour  and  twenty  minutes  after  the  sentence 
had  actually  been  pronounced.     There  is  no  need  for  comment. 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  353 

orderly  into  the  motor  and  sent  him  off.  The  Marquis 
de  Villalobar,  de  Leval,  and  I  settled  down  to  wait, 
and  we  waited  long,  for  Lancken,  evidently  knowing 
the  purpose  of  our  visit,  declined  to  budge  until  the  end 
of  an  act  that  seemed  to  appeal  to  him  particularly. 

He  came  in  about  10.30,  followed  shortly  by  Count 
Harrach  and  Baron  von  Falkenhausen,  members  of 
his  staflF.  I  briefly  explained  to  him  the  situation  as 
we  understood  it  and  presented  the  note  from  the 
Minister,  transmitting  the  appeal  for  clemency.  Lanck- 
en read  the  note  aloud  in  our  presence,  showing  no 
feeling  aside  from  cynical  annoyance  at  something — 
probably  our  having  discovered  the  intentions  of  the 
German  authorities. 

When  he  had  finished  reading  the  note,  Lancken  said 
that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  case,  but  was  sure  in  any 
event  that  no  sentence  would  be  executed  so  soon  as 
we  had  said.  He  manifested  some  surprise,  not  to  say 
annoyance,  that  we  should  give  credence  to  any  report 
in  regard  to  the  case  which  did  not  come  from  his 
Department,  that  being  the  only  official  channel. 
Leval  and  I  insisted,  however,  that  we  had  reason  to 
beheve  our  reports  were  correct  and  urged  him  to  make 
inquiries.  He  then  tried  to  find  out  the  exact  source  of  our 
information,  and  became  painfully  insistent.  I  did  not 
propose,  however,  to  enlighten  him  on  this  point  and 
said  that  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  divulge  our  source 
of  information. 

Lancken  then  became  persuasive — said  that  it  was 
most  improbable  that  any  sentence  had  been  pro- 
nounced; that  even  if  it  had,  it  could  not  be  put  into 
effect  within  so  short  a  time,  and  that  in  any  event  all 


354  A  JOURNAX  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

Government  oflSces  were  closed  and  that  it  was  impos- 
sible for  him  to  take  any  action  before  morning.  He 
suggested  that  we  all  go  home  ''reasonably,"  sleep 
quietly,  and  come  back  in  the  morning  to  talk  about 
the  case.  It  was  very  clear  that  if  the  facts  were  as 
we  believed  them  to  be,  the  next  morning  would  be  too 
late,  and  we  pressed  for  immediate  enquiry.  I  had  to 
be  rather  insistent  on  this  point,  and  de  Leval,  in  his 
anxiety,  became  so  emphatic  that  I  feared  he  might 
bring  down  the  wrath  of  the  Germans  on  his  own  head, 
and  tried  to  quiet  him.  There  was  something  splendid 
about  the  way  de  Leval,  a  Belgian  with  nothing  to 
gain  and  everything  to  lose,  stood  up  for  what  he  be- 
lieved to  be  right  and  chivalrous,  regardless  of  conse- 
quences to  himself. 

Finally,  Lancken  agreed  to  enquire  as  to  the  facts, 
telephoned  from  his  office  to  the  presiding  judge  of  the 
court  martial,  and  returned  in  a  short  time  to  say  that 
sentence  had  indeed  been  passed  and  that  Miss  Cavell 
was  to  be  shot  during  the  night. 

We  then  presented  with  all  the  earnestness  at  our 
command,  the  plea  for  clemency.  We  pointed  out  to 
Lancken  that  Miss  CavelFs  offenses  were  a  matter  of 
the  past;  that  she  had  been  in  prison  for  some  weeks, 
thus  effectually  ending  her  power  for  harm;  that  there 
was  nothing  to  be  gained  by  shooting  her,  and  on  the 
contrary  this  would  do  Germany  much  more  harm  than 
good  and  England  much  more  good  than  harm.  We 
pointed  out  to  him  that  the  whole  case  was  a  very  bad 
one  from  Germany's  point  of  view;  that  the  sentence 
of  death  had  heretofore  been  imposed  only  for  cases  of 
espionage  and  that  Miss  Cavell  was  not  even  accused 


Miss  Edith  Cavell 


Fly-leaf  of  Miss  Cavell's  prayer  book 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  355 

by  the  German  authorities  of  anything  so  serious.*  We 
reminded  him  that  Miss  Cavell,  as  directress  of  a  large 
nursing  home,  had,  since  the  beginning  of  the  war,  cared 
for  large  numbers  of  German  soldiers  in  a  way  that 
should  make  her  life  sacred  to  them.  I  further  called 
his  attention  to  the  manifest  failure  of  the  Political 
Department  to  comply  with  its  repeated  promises  to 
keep  us  informed  as  to  the  progress  of  the  trial  and 
the  passing  of  the  sentence.  The  deliberate  policy  of 
subterfuge  and  prevarication  by  which  they  had  sought 
to  deceive  us,  as  to  the  progress  of  the  case,  was  so  raw 
as  to  require  httle  comment.  We  all  pointed  out  to 
Lancken  the  horror  of  shooting  a  woman,  no  matter 
what  her  offense,  and  endeavoured  to  impress  upon  him 
the  frightful  effect  that  such  an  execution  would  have 
throughout  the  civihsed  world.  With  an  ill-concealed 
sneer  he  replied  that  on  the  contrary  he  was  confident 
that  the  effect  would  be  excellent. 

When  everything  else  had  failed,  we  asked  Lancken 
to  look  at  the  case  from  the  point  of  view  solely  of 
German  interests,  assuring  him  that  the  execution  of 
Miss  Cavell  would  do  Germany  infinite  harm.  We 
reminded  him  of  the  burning  of  Louvain  and  the  sink- 
ing of  the  Lusitania,  and  told  him  that  this  murder 
would  rank  with  those  two  affairs  and  would  stir  all 
civilised   countries   with   horror   and   disgust.      Count 


*  At  the  time  there  was  no  intimation  that  Miss  Cavell  was 
guilty  of  espionage.  It  was  only  when  pubHc  opinion  had  been 
aroused  by  her  execution  that  the  German  Government  began  to 
refer  to  her  as  "the  spy  Cavell.'*  According  to  the  German 
statement  of  the  case,  there  is  no  possible  ground  for  calling  her 
a  spy. 


356  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  D^  BELGIUM 

Harrach  broke  in  at  this  with  the  rather  irrelevant 
remark  that  he  would  rather  see  Miss  Cavell  shot  than 
have  harm  come  to  the  humblest  German  soldier,  and 
his  only  regret  was  that  they  had  not  "three  or  four 
old  English  women  to  shoot." 

The  Spanish  Minister  and  I  tried  to  prevail  upon 
Laneken  to  call  Great  Headquarters  at  Charleville  on 
the  telephone  and  have  the  case  laid  before  the  Em- 
peror for  his  decision.  Laneken  stiffened  perceptibly 
at  this  suggestion  and  refused,  frankly,  saying  that  he 
could  not  do  anything  of  the  sort.  Turning  to  Villa- 
lobar,  he  said,  "I  can't  do  that  sort  of  thing.  I  am 
not  a  friend  of  my  Sovereign  as  you  are  of  yours,"  to 
which  a  rejoinder  was  made  that  in  order  to  be  a  good 
friend,  one  must  be  loyal  and  ready  to  incur  displeasure 
in  case  of  need.  However,  our  arguments  along  this 
line  came  to  nothing,  but  Laneken  finally  came  to  the 
point  of  saying  that  the  Military  Governor  of  Brussels 
was  the  supreme  authority  (Gerichtsherr)  in  matters  of 
this  sort  and  that  even  the  Governor -General  had  no 
power  to  intervene.  After  further  argument  he  agreed 
to  get  General  von  Sauberschweig,  the  Mihtary  Gov- 
ernor, out  of  bed  to  learn  whether  he  had  already  rati- 
fied the  sentence  and  whether  there  was  any  chance 
for  clemency. 

Laneken  was  gone  about  half  an  hour,  during  which 
time  the  three  of  us  laboured  with  Harrach  and  Falken- 
hausen,  without,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  the  slightest  suc- 
cess. When  Laneken  returned  he  reported  that  the 
Military  Governor  said  that  he  had  acted  in  this  case 
only  after  mature  deliberation;  that  the  circumstances 
of  Miss  Cavell's  offense  were  of  such  character  that  he 


A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  357 

considered  infliction  of  the  death  penalty  imperative. 
Lancken  further  explained  that  under  the  provisions  of 
German  Mihtary  Law,  the  Gerichtsherr  had  discre- 
tionary power  to  accept  or  to  refuse  to  accept  an 
appeal  for  clemency;  that  in  this  case  the  Governor 
regretted  that  he  must  decline  to  accept  the  appeal  for 
clemency  or  any  representations  in  regard  to  the  matter. 

We  then  brought  up  again  the  question  of  having 
the  Emperor  called  on  the  telephone,  but  Lancken  re- 
phed  very  definitely  that  the  matter  had  gone  too  far; 
that  the  sentence  had  been  ratified  by  the  Mihtary 
Governor,  and  that  when  matters  had  gone  that  far, 
"even  the  Emperor  himself  could  not  intervene."* 

He  then  asked  me  to  take  back  the  note  I  had  pre- 
sented to  him.  I  at  first  demurred,  pointing  out  that 
this  was  not  an  appeal  for  clemency,  but  merely  a 
note  to  him,  transmitting  a  note  to  the  Governor,  which 
was  itself  to  be  considered  the  appeal  for  clemency.  I 
pointed  out  that  this  was  especially  stated  in  the  Min- 
ister's note  to  him,  and  tried  to  prevail  upon  him  to 
keep  it.  He  was  very  insistent,  however,  and  inasmuch 
as  he  had  already  read  the  note  aloud  to  us  and  we 
knew  that  he  was  aware  of  its  contents,  it  seemed  that 
there  was  nothing  to  be  gained  by  refusing  to  accept 
the  note,  and  I  accordingly  took  it  back. 

Despite  Lancken's  vef  y  positive  statements  as  to  the 
futility  of  our  errand,  we  continued  to  appeal  to  every 
sentiment  to  secure  delay  and  time  for  reconsideration 

*  Although  accepted  at  the  time  as  true,  this  statement  was  later 
found  to  be  entirely  false  and  is  understood  to  have  displeased 
the  Emperor.  The  Emperor  could  have  stopped  the  execution 
at  anv  moment. 


35S  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

of  the  case.  The  Spanish  Minister  led  Lancken  aside 
and  said  some  things  to  him  that  he  would  have  hesi- 
tated to  say  in  the  presence  of  Harrach,  Falkenhausen, 
and  de  Leval,  a  Belgian  subject.  Lancken  squirmed 
and  blustered  by  turns,  but  stuck  to  his  refusal.  In 
the  meantime  I  went  after  Harrach  and  Falkenhausen 
again.  This  time,  throwing  modesty  to  the  winds,  I 
reminded  them  of  some  of  the  things  we  had  done  for 
German  interests  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war;  how  we 
had  repatriated  thousands  of  German  subjects  and 
cared  for  their  interests;  how  during  the  siege  of  Ant- 
werp I  had  repeatedly  crossed  the  lines  during  actual 
fighting  at  the  request  of  Field  Marshal  von  der  Goltz 
to  look  after  German  interests;  how  all  this  service 
had  been  rendered  gladly  and  without  thought  of  re- 
ward; that  since  the  beginning  of  the  war  we  had 
never  asked  a  favour  of  the  German  authorities  and  it 
seemed  incredible  that  they  should  now  decline  to 
grant  us  even  a  day's  delay  to  discuss  the  case  of  a  poor 
woman  who  was,  by  her  imprisonment,  prevented  from 
doing  further  harm,  and  whose  execution  in  the  middle 
of  the  night,  at  the  conclusion  of  a  course  of  trickery 
and  deception,  was  nothing  short  of  an  affront  to  civiU- 
sation.  Even  when  I  was  ready  to  abandon  all  hope, 
de  Leval  was  unable  to  believe  that  the  German  au- 
thorities would  persist  in  their  decision,  and  appealed 
most  touchingly  and  feeUngly  to  the  sense  of  pity  for 
which  we  looked  in  vain. 

Our  efforts  were  perfectly  useless,  however,  as  the 
three  men  with  whom  we  had  to  deal  were  so  com- 
pletely callous  and  indifferent  that  they  were  in  no 
way  moved  by  anything  that  we  could  say. 


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A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM  359 

We  did  not  stop  until  after  midnight,  when  it  was 
only  too  clear  that  there  was  no  hope. 

It  was  a  bitter  business  leaving  the  place  feehng  that 
we  had  failed  and  that  the  httle  woman  was  to  be  led 
out  before  a  firing  squad  within  a  few  hours.  But  it 
was  worse  to  go  back  to  the  Legation  to  the  little 
group  of  Enghsh  women  who  were  waiting  in  my  oj05ce 
to  learn  the  result  of  our  visit.  They  had  been  there 
for  nearly  four  hours  while  Mrs.  Whitlock  and  Miss 
Larner  sat  with  them  and  tried  to  sustain  them  through 
the  hours  of  waiting.  There  were  Mrs.  Gahan,  wife  of 
the  Enghsh  chaplain.  Miss  B.,  and  several  nurses  from 
Miss  Cavell's  school.  One  was  a  little  wisp  of  a  thing 
who  had  been  mothered  by  Miss  Cavell,  and  was 
nearly  beside  herself  with  grief.  There  was  no  way  of 
breaking  the  news  to  them  gently,  for  they  could  read 
the  answer  in  our  faces  when  we  came  in.  All  we  could 
do  was  to  give  them  each  a  stiff  drink  of  sherry  and 
send  them  home.  De  Leval  was  white  as  death,  and  I 
took  him  back  to  his  house.  I  had  a  splitting  head- 
ache myself  and  could  not  face  the  idea  of  going  to  bed. 
I  went  home  and  read  for  awhile,  but  that  was  no  good, 
so  I  went  out  and  walked  the  streets,  much  to  the  annoy- 
ance of  German  patrols.  I  rang  the  bells  of  several 
houses  in  a  desperate  desire  to  talk  to  somebody,  but 
could  not  find  a  soul — only  sleepy  and  disgruntled  ser- 
vants. It  was  a  night  I  should  not  like  to  go  through 
again,  but  it  wore  through  somehow  and  I  braced  up  with 
a  cold  bath  and  went  to  the  Legation  for  the  day's  work. 

The  day  brought  forth  another  loathsome  fact  in 
connection  with  the  case.  It  seems  the  sentence  on 
Miss  Cavell  was  not  pronounced  in  open  court.     Her 


360  A  JOURNAL  FROM  OUR  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

executioners,  apparently  in  the  hope  of  conceaUng 
their  intentions  from  us,  went  into  her  cell  and  there, 
behind  locked  doors,  pronounced  sentence  upon  her. 
It  is  all  of  a  piece  with  the  other  things  they  have  done. 

Last  night  Mr.  Gahan  got  a  pass  and  was  admitted 
to  see  Miss  Cavell  shortly  before  she  was  taken  out 
and  shot.  He  said  she  was  calm  and  prepared  and 
faced  the  ordeal  without  a  tremor.  She  was  a  tiny 
thing  that  looked  as  though  she  could  be  blown  away 
with  a  breath,  but  she  had  a  great  spirit.  She  told 
Mr.  Gahan  that  soldiers  had  come  to  her  and  asked  to 
be  helped  to  the  frontier;  that  knowing  the  risks  they 
ran  and  the  risks  she  took,  she  had  helped  them.  She 
said  she  had  nothing  to  regret,  no  complaint  to  make, 
and  that  if  she  had  it  all  to  do  over  again,  she  would 
change  nothing.  And  most  pathetic  of  all  was  her 
statement  that  she  thanked  God  for  the  six  weeks  she 
had  passed  in  prison — the  nearest  approach  to  rest 
she  had  known  for  years. 

They  partook  together  of  the  Holy  Communion,  and 
she  who  had  so  little  need  of  preparation  was  prepared 
for  death.  She  was  free  from  resentment  and  said:  "I 
realise  that  patriotism  is  not  enough.  I  must  have  no 
hatred  or  bitterness  toward  any  one." 

She  was  taken  out  and  shot  before  daybreak. 

She  was  denied  the  support  of  her  own  clergyman  at 
the  end,  but  a  German  military  chaplain  stayed  with 
her  and  gave  her  burial  within  the  precincts  of  the 
prison.  He  did  not  conceal  his  admiration  and  said: 
'*She  was  courageous  to  the  end.  She  professed  her 
Christian  faith  and  said  that  she  was  glad  to  die  for 
her  country.     She  died  like  a  heroine." 


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